drip shaft stuffing box

[JoeMama]

I get water in my boat (like 3 inches from midsection and just had a tune up (50 hour service) and mentioned to dealer#1 to check the shaft (as that's what another dealer#2 told me was the likely issue). Dealer#1 said the shaft and everything looked fine. So I took the boat for a spin and I get almost a continuous drip (6-10 drips a second) at idle. Now after a bunch of research this is obviously too much and it will need to be tightened.

So my question is, when the boat is at a dealer and they run the engine, will the shaft drip the same amount of water as when the boat is in the lake? I am trying to find out if my dealer#1 would have seen my continuous drips or if it doesn't drip much when the boat is not in water. If so then how would a dealer be able to set it correctly unless they drop the boat in a lake.

Or maybe the dealer #1 never checked it even though he said they did. That would be unfortunate.

Edited June 14, 2012 by JoeMama

[haycutter]

The way I understand it, the boat has to be on the water to adjust the packing. The drip is leaking from the water pressure at the bottom of the boat when it is on the water, and unless the dealer has launched or put the boat in water he wont be able to adjust it.

[99response]

The packing has to have water behind it to drip, so it won't drip on the trailer.

It can be adjusted by a tech on dry land, but is best adjusted on the water.

[Lance B. Johnson]

I am changing the packing out this spring. I plan to install it then back the trailer down the ramp during a week. Leaving it hooked to the trailer I will adjust it. Then drive it, check it, adjust again as necessary....

Edited April 7, 2012 by Ruffdog