• Creator
    Topic
  • #25511

    Matt Pickich
    Participant
    Vessel Name: A Salt Weapon
    Engines: OMC 454 7.4GL
    Location: Biloxi, MS
    Country: USA

    New to the forum. I’m out of Biloxi, MS and I’m running a 25ft Whitewater center console straight shaft inboard. Not too many guys run this kind of setup here but as I have found it eats up the nasty weather we get so its a win for me. I’ve been an outboard guy before this and this is my first inboard boat so I’ve learned a lot over the past two years of ownership.

    Now on to the topic, I am currently going through a repower of my boat; at the moment I’m looking at a Merc 383 also looking at what the conversion to a 6BTA would involve hint hint. My last outing revealed that my seal is toast. When I inspected the bilge it was half full of water after a short twenty minute run. Picture below, let me know what you think would be best to get the seal right and keep the water out!

    Thank you for the help.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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  • #25697

    Rob Schepis
    Forum Moderator
    Vessel Name: Tenacious
    Engines: 6BTA 5.9 330's - "Seaboard Style"
    Location: Long Island, NY
    Country: USA

    Yes sir. See attached..

    #25696

    Matt Pickich
    Participant
    Vessel Name: A Salt Weapon
    Engines: OMC 454 7.4GL
    Location: Biloxi, MS
    Country: USA

    Rob,

    Thanks for the reply, I will be home again in a few weeks and I will take the measurements at that time. Shaft log OD is the outside diameter of the the shaft log housing that the encasement hose will go around correct?

    #25532

    Rob Schepis
    Forum Moderator
    Vessel Name: Tenacious
    Engines: 6BTA 5.9 330's - "Seaboard Style"
    Location: Long Island, NY
    Country: USA

    Tony,

    Thanks for the articles, I’ve looked them over and there is definitely a lot I have to address on my boat. Do you guys sell this type of fitting upgrade? How would I measure the prop shaft to get the right measurement?

    Seaboard can supply a replacement packing gland, conventional style with grease fitting. Calipers are not expensive and are handy tools to have but if you’d rather improvise you can measure the shaft diameter using a crescent wrench as a caliper and then measure the jaw spacing.. You’ll need to measure the shaft log OD as well.

    #25530

    Matt Pickich
    Participant
    Vessel Name: A Salt Weapon
    Engines: OMC 454 7.4GL
    Location: Biloxi, MS
    Country: USA

    My current seal setup is leaking badly. When I bought the boat 2 years ago it was my first inboard boat and since then I have been reading all of the forums and asking as many questions as I can. The first few times I took the boat out I had a modest amount of water in the bilge that the bilge pumps kept down. On the last few runs it took before the engine went kaput it started taking on A LOT of water. I went through and tightened all the hoses, anything that carried water got a check on the bands. The only thing I haven’t done is run it with the floor open to see if it is coming in at rest or only when underway.

    After speaking to the guy I bought it from he didn’t do much of any maintenance on those bits of the setup so now I have an undefined amount of time of which the stuffing box has been neglected.

    I’d like to fix it up to where I can shoot grease into the stuffing box and go with the twin nut vice style like in the articles above instead of the current lock nuts. I’ve been looking for a manufacturer that sells them that way but can’t seem to find them yet.

    #25524

    Bob Bonser
    Participant
    Vessel Name: Tiderunner II
    Engines: cummins 6CTA8.3 2002
    Location: St Pete
    Country: USA

    Gland packing

    Is your current seal leaking? Why do you think you need it? Just wondering cause mine had a significant stream of seawater at rest. My box looks somewhat like yours except for all the dirt and leaves.

    I loosened it, got all thre sizes from west marine, got a pigtail extractor from west marine and loosened the nut till I could access the packing.

    I layed the shaft seal against the shaft and it was obvious which was the right size.

    Removed all the old packing with the pigtail, cleaned, greased and put back the new.

    Rotate each layer so the seams are offset. 3 layers, offset each 120 deg. I couldn’t get 3 layers in mine and still be able to reinstall. I made the last layer 1/2 thickness this may draw boos from the crowd)

    Now I have only a slight drip when under way and nothing at rest. West marine sells three sizes. I have two here unused! At 12$ just get em all. I needed the smallest for what it’s worth. 40ft dorado, single inboard 6cta8.3m. 1.5in shaft.

    #25522

    Matt Pickich
    Participant
    Vessel Name: A Salt Weapon
    Engines: OMC 454 7.4GL
    Location: Biloxi, MS
    Country: USA

    Tony,

    Thanks for the articles, I’ve looked them over and there is definitely a lot I have to address on my boat. Do you guys sell this type of fitting upgrade? How would I measure the prop shaft to get the right measurement?

    #25521

    Tony Athens
    Moderator
    Vessel Name: Local Banks
    Engines: QSB 6.7 550 HP
    Location: Oxnard, CA
    Country: USA
Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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