Leak in the boat
 

I found a small leak where the prop shaft passes through the hull of the boat (pic, circled in red) is this an easy fix or am i taking it to the dealer? The boat is an 06 Calabria Pro V


http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/p...s1967/Leak.jpg
Thanks!!

In the pic, did you already remove the shaft from the hull? if you did and that area rest against the hull, it is prolly just a repacking issue... If you are refering to it leaking from the back of the "shaft seal" then, you need to replace the whole rubber seal.... my guess from what I can understand and see??

Water is supposed to drip between that nylon nut that is closest to us and the stainless shaft. If it is dripping more than one drip every 30 seconds?(someone will need to remind me the number) the nut can be tightened. The packing rope can also be replaced easily and cheaply. Do a search on stuffing box/packing rope... You should find plenty of info on Google

That is your packing gland. Like Delta said it should leak. 1 drip every 10-20 seconds while the shaft it turning. Shouldn't leak hardly at all at rest without the shaft turning. My last one had a constant stream when I bought it. 1/4 turn in and just the right drip.

Super easy. Outside nut is a jam nut to hold the inner in place. Loosen the outer, put the boat in gear going as slow as you can in forward. Have someone drive while you adjust the inner nut to get the 1 drip every 15 seconds or so. Tiny bit at a time it doesn't take much turn to make a difference. Turn clockwise in towards the black rubber and hose clamps. Hold the inner nut while tightening the outer jam nut back up. If you don't hold it while tightening it will spin tighter and you start all over. Super easy to do. If you can't get it to slow down enough you might need a new packing gland inside which is also pretty easy to do. Unless you have a ton of hours I would guess just an adjustment.

Alright, boat in the water, engine off I get a small stream of water, probably a gallon every 5 minutes. Sounds like I need to put it in the water and snug it up while my wife keeps it in gear. The boat has 75 hours on it. I did get the tow rope caught around the prop this past summer.... Twice.

The boat does not need to be in gear to adjust/tighten. Once you have tightened the nut to the point of a drip every 30 seconds or so, then it's time to run the boat at operating speed to make sure you have the proper drip timing. If you tighten and still have a constant stream it might be time to repack the shaft seal. If that's the case consider using a dripless packing seal. You can call skidim and they can get you the proper seal.

All specs on how much(drip) are with the shaft spinning. Will not drip at the same rate sitting still. A little adjustment makes a difference. If you do it sitting still your going to over tighten. Then you have to back it all the way off and get water flowing and do it again. If you over tighten you will burn the shaft. The way I said is the PROPER way to do it and what is printed in any manual. If its dripping every 30 seconds sitting still its not properly adjusted, that will translate into way more water than you need once the shaft is spinning. After you do it a few times you will probably get a feel for how much adjustment it needs and be able to give it a quick snug sitting still and be pretty close. But until you get used to doing that do it the easy way and you won't have any problems.

Judging the gap between the gland and socket I suspect the packing is pretty well shot and time for replacement. You can only tighten it so far.
As per your post, I would highly suggest you watch somebody do it once then you can take it from there.

Sounds like you need new packing...Space can be an issue with needed wrench sizes...Not sure about the size...13/8"?...Or, a shop will charge ~ $100 for the job!

100$ job? it literally takes 10 minutes. if you can brush your teeth all by yourself, you can change packing

It sounds scary but I agree with 882001... If it is packing and not a simple tighten job, you can do it ;)

Yeah packing isn't bad. Hardest part is usually digging the old stuff out. If your boat only has 75 hours the stuff shouldn't be bad, I'm guessing just a tighten.

If I were you I wouldn't be putting my hands or tools near moving parts of a boat drive train when it's in gear. Adjust the drip timing with the boat out of gear in small incremental turns and you'll have no issues with burning up the seal. Put the boat in gear and run it at higher rpms to make sure the drip timing is correct and adjust as necessary. It should only take you a few minutes. I agree with 75 hours on the boat you should just need a simple tightening.

There are people here giving advice that clearly don't know what they are talking about. Follow Todd's instructions and you should be fine.