Dripless Shaft Seal Leak

[luna]

I suspect the diaper on top of the shaft seal has been moved aft about 4" to allow for the picture and it would normally cover the whole thing over. The darkest red stains on the top and bottom diaper would then align.
The leak may be due to the seal on the output shaft leaking and throwing ATF all around.

Now joined by the shaft seal throwing seawater all around as evidenced by the beaded water on the white part of the upper diaper.

Looks like lots of work to do.

 

[SteveK]

Can you send a picture of the PSS - from a bit of a distance so folks can get perspective (not too close up)? The diaper looks like it has ATF. Is there a water feed tube into the PSS and if so, where does it come from? Have you checked your transmission oil recently? Anything milky?

Best of luck. Please update with resolution.

Peter

The blue hose appears to feed into PSS. I have those from the riser.
The ATF, if that is what it is may be a secondary problem to the water leak.

 

[Gypsy Island]

Face Seals don‘t like grease or oil on the face, could be the root cause. Disconnecting the water feed and degreasing the whole thing i would start with.

 

[SteveK]

Face Seals don‘t like grease or oil on the face, could be the root cause. Disconnecting the water feed and degreasing the whole thing i would start with.

I was thinking the same, but not sure as exact leak location not determined

 

[Intrepidblonde]

UPDATE… so the water spray from the shaft shield fried my solar panel charger. So i got a new one. When I ran the engine i noticed an atf leak above the shaft. I have added a picture. I do not know what the picture is…..i cant use the boat until i fix this leak….thank you all for your suggestion and helping me to trouble shoot…

 

[lwarden]

Not sure what you are trying to show, but this is the shifting valve part of your transmission. What stands out is that I can see there are no wires leading to the neutral safety switch, that's the little black plastic piece in the middle upper right with the two small screws on it. That should have two wires attached running back to the instrument panel. Without those wires connected you don't have protection from starting in gear. I suspect someone has just shorted those wires together to get it to work. The switch should be replaced since it's heavily corroded.
Likely the water spray has caused all that corrosion.
It's hard to tell from the picture what is leaking the ATF. It all looks like it needs cleaning up and the fittings removed and resealed. I would be planning to replace the transmission cooler lines, they look pretty bad. Some fittings will need sealant and some will likely have an o-ring, take each out and reseal and replace o-rings.

 

[heysteve]

Btw, a cheaper alternative to the PSS retention collar is to just use a donut zinc.

 

[bil56]

Il existe une valeur de compression à respecter scrupuleusement, en fonction du diamètre de l'arbre. Une bonne solution de secours pour bloquer la face avant et éviter les fuites importantes consiste à installer une anode d'arbre bien serrée au niveau du contact.

 

[C lectric]

For the immediate time get a small fender that you don't mind cutting up. I have a 2" diam shaft that used to spray.

I stopped the spray from any travel around the E.R. by cutting off the tie points at each end. The engine end was left open just enough for the shaft to go without rubbing. Then splitting the fender lengthwise and cutting the other end large enough to go over the stuffing box which is mounted and clamped onto the stuffing box. The splitting is to allow the water to drop out without the spray travel. The split MUST face down.
Just be sure the split is open a bit for the water to escape from.

No more spray and aside from periodic adjustment it has been that way for more than 20 yrs.
Each year I only have to make stuffing box adjustments to minimize any errant water but even so it cannot spray around and wet the engine.

Some folk have used pop bottles. I prefer the old fender.

TH

 

[lwarden]

I've designed this ridiculously complicated solution to a spray shield that I'm in the process of making. It has a spilt clamp that goes over the carbon stator and a removable ring with an opening at the bottom which twist-locks onto the clamp. It can be easily removed by pressing down a little tab and rotating. I've printed up some test parts but need to finish off the clamp hardware.

Of course it would be wonderful if the dripless seal were indeed dripless and not a garden hose sprayer of corrosive fluid...

 

[ORIF]

Good advice so far:

There’s 2 set screws in each hole. So just tightening the outer set screw won’t accomplish much. The tip of the inner screw that contacts the shaft deforms. I think this is why it’s not recomended to reuse the same screws. Same screw would not mate the same…

Mating surfaces of the collars can be cleaned by pushing the collar back on the bellows. I’ve seen other threads on this forum suggesting use of toothpaste as a cleaning/polishing agent.
After properly tensioning the bellows, replace and tighten all screws.

The collar and or sharpie marks are great suggestions once you get this sorted.

I used these safety collar rings on mine and set them back from the collar the same distance as the Allen wrench you use to remove the set screws. That way, if the Allen wrench didn’t fit I’d know it had moved and if it moved all the way against the collar it was short enough distance that there would be no leak, the collar would do its job, and I’d be aware I’d need to remove and replace all the screws after retensioning the bellows.

Also be aware that the bellows are a replacement item. I can’t remember the time frames but there are 2 available, one that lasts several more years before recomended replacement interval of the other.

 

[F Angel]

The original post mentions a squeaking. The squeaking may be an indicator of what is causing the shaft seal to suddenly start leaking rather than the result of a loose seal. If the shaft is starting to shift due to a worn cutlass bearing or the shaft is out of alignment than this will need to be corrected first.

 

[RyanGriffiths]

I would try calling Stonesboatyard in Nanaimo, I think they usually have openings. I did see them work shaft & dripless last year and they did a really nice professional job. You just need to get past the foreman, who shouts at you instead of talking with you, but as others have indicated getting the parts ahead of time would be useful.

The other boatyard is Shelter island, big yard with openings within a couple of days. Excellent mechanics & techs are generally available.

I found the former, now moved to Ontario, boatyard manager had a short fuse and was rude at times. The new manager Mark seems much better. Mitch is the yard manager and is a good knowledgeable guy. Andrew one of the owners of Stones Boatyard is very fair and understanding. They do the haul outs on our 36’ GB “Contigo” and have replaced the old PSS seals with no issues. All in all I like the team they now have there.
I would recommend them.