Leak Issue-how to fix

[pfaudi_a4]

I tried a search but could not find anything very helpful, so I'm sorry if this has already been posted.

I've got a 90 Conbrio. If you look at the prop shaft from inside the engine compartment (while engine is running) there's a bearing? that the shaft enters before going through the fiberglass (kevlar) and into the water. I believe this is normally supposed to drip water (cooling) - one drop per 3 seconds or so....let me know if I'm wrong here.

When I pulled the boat out a couple weeks ago, I noticed water was dripping much faster, almost to a pour....Is this a lose bearing? How to fix? Repack, tighten, more? How big of a job is this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

thank you
________
Baby mac (http://babimac.com/)

[lowdrag]

Yes and no. It is a bearing of sorts but not the metal kind with ball bearings like you would find in other applications. The brass fittings contain a flax packing material that serves the purpose of remaining wet to lubricate the shaft while at the same time not allowing water to flow freely into the boat. Over time the packing material wears out and you need to pull it out and replace it. I'm sure there are plenty of people here that have done it that could take you through the process step by step. I haven't had a boat that I've needed to do it to yet. You can try tightening the fitting to slow the leak, but be careful. You don't want to overtighten it. I wouldn't do much more than hand tighten it and maybe snug it up a little. Any more than that any you can compress the packing material enough that it will heat up and the excess pressure/friction can score or seriously damage the shaft.

[1986Marauder]

This is not hard at all to fix. The key is to do the following when the boat is in forward gear at idle speed. Just behind where it is leaking you will see 3 big nuts, back of the the keeper nut I think it is the middle one, then tighten the nut that is closest to the leak a little bit like an 1/8 of a turn, wait and see if the drip becomes shorter. Repeat your 1/8 turns until you hit your 6 to 10 drips per minute. Then tighten your keeper nut back snug and your done. If you cant accomplish this then you need to replace the wax rope packing, post back for info on this. You will need 2 big, what I call water pump pliers to tighten these nuts. Any questions feel free to post back.