The through Hull bearing on my Malibu LSV is leaking a small stream of water at all times. What is the procedure to fix this little issue? <BR> <BR>Anyone out there done a bearing repack and or tighten on this bearing bolt? <BR> <BR>Any feedback would be of great help.

Hyrum, <BR>I would suggest you order some packing rope and repack the stuffing box. Call SkiDim.com and they can tell you if you need 3/16" or 1/4" rope.. i think you need 3/16 . It is a simple process. Click here to see a photo of the setup <BR><a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/bradwebb1/?action=view&amp;current=packingjamnut.jpg" target="_blank">http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/bradwebb1/?action=view&amp;current=packingjamnut.jpg</a> <BR> <BR>Basicly you loosen the jam nut then remove the Shaft Log packing nut.. you'll need some type of a pick to pick out the old material... cut 3 -4 pieces of new rope the same length as what came out and wrap them back in. You'll tighten it back down hand tight as you can. You'll have to run some and retighten. You want a very, very slow drip - I think it is 1 drip every 30 secs. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PR18X17" target="_blank">http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PR18X17</a> <BR><a href="http://www.elberts.com/hardware.htm" target="_blank">http://www.elberts.com/hardware.htm</a> <BR> <BR>(Message edited by 04outback on July 15, 2008)

I am not sure how old your boat is or how many hours, but my guess is that you do NOT need to repack the stuffing box. Most likely you just need to retighen the nut. The most difficult time I had in the process was finding two 1-7/8" open ended wrenches. I finally went to Pep Boys and rented a fan clutch kit that had the wrenches and it was free. <BR> <BR>I did my adjustment on the water, you just need to loosen the small nut, tighten the longer of the two, and then tighten the small nut against the larger. The nut wont leak until you put it into gear, so it will be a trial and error process. <BR> <BR>Once you are done, it should drip once every 6-10 seconds. <BR> <BR>My boat is a 98 with about 400 hours, and all I needed to do was tighten the nut. <BR> <BR>If you tighten the nut all the way, and it still drips more that stated above, you then need to repack the stuffing box.

I just had mine repacked for $78. With the right tools it's pretty easy I just didn't have the time. <BR> <BR>On average it needs to be replaced every 5 years. My MC lasted 8 years and my Malibu lasted 4 years. <BR> <BR>About 3 drops per minute is what you need.

you can use pipe wrenches on the packing/jam nuts...(older) PCM manual recommendation...

Thanks Guys! <BR> <BR>Your certainly right about finding the right Size tools. I will retighten it as my boat is an 2004 and it only has about 300 hrs on it. I will plan on repacking in a few years. <BR> <BR>I am printing this out and putting it in my boat as its great info.

Why not upgrade to a dripless system? Will save you oodles of headaches in the future!

Re-packing once every five years is "oodles of headaches"??? <BR> <BR>It is literally a 15 minute job.