88 Supra Saltare Rudder

Hello...any help is greatly appreciated.

We have just purchased 88 Supra Saltare and realized the boat is taking on water. We believe the culprit is the seal around the rudder and/or the bushing needs to be replaced as it is wobbly. I was told you could access the rudder by removing the back seats but there is only about a 1 inch gap between the gas tank and the floor so it appears I need to remove the gas tank. Do you know this to be correct?

Also, can anyone offer any insight on the difficulty or what I can expect during this repair?

Thanks,
jmbloecher

I have a 92 saltare, and I'm pretty sure in order to work comfortably the tank has to come out. Looks really easy though, just take some pics with a digi cam as you do it for reference.

As for where exactly the leak is from, it's most likely that your rudder shaft needs new o ring seals or needs to be repacked, it varies boat to boat which you have. Do a search and you'll find lots of info.

Like this one https://forum.supraboats.com/showthr...rudder+packing

I'm pretty new at this so I hope I've been able to help.

I'm still in the rebuild of my 89 Salt, but yes you'll need to pull the tank to really access the rudder. Pulling the tank isn't hard - drain the tank, pull the fill/vent lines, disconnect the sender wires, undo the two top straps, & slide it out from the front. The worst part of the job is finding rotting wood where the front of the straps bolt to the top of the stringers - an area notorious for decay.

Supra used a couple of different rudder seal designs in that era, so tightening/sealing it up will depend on what you have - packing, o-rings, or lip seals w/ grease.

If you have one that secures the tiller arm to the rudder shaft with a section of all-thread - check to make sure the o.d. at the top of the rudder shaft isn't "mushroomed". Okie Boarder had the same type of tiller arm & we both had heck getting it off.

Thank you for your help. Obviously first time doing this but before I got your posts we removed the seats in the back and a little part of the carpet to find a access panel in which we removed so we didn't have to remove the gas tank.. which we are happy about. We found that one of the screws was missing the nut which probably didn't help but after removing the rudder we found the bottom seal was rusted out. Which we cannot get out for the life of us.. anyone know how to remove rusted seal? Is there a standard replacement seal or is that something we have to special order? I hope I do not have to order an entirley piece...after this little obstacle our next step is getting the boat back together...

Maybe you can post some pictures, that would help a lot of us guide you in the right direction.

We have this fixed now but here was a picture of the part with the rusted rings and seals. We didn't have to take out the gas tank because after ripping up the carpet a little in the center we found an access panel that had been recovered. To clean the rusted part, we were told to take a blow torch to it to loosen it up and get it out but we were able to get everything out and clean it up really good. We got lucky in that the seals and snap rings were a standard part we could buy at any automotive store so the fix costs us maybe $10. We got the boat back together and everything is running fine... except.. we are still taking on more water than we should.

...We left the boat in the water last night few nights and we had a lot less water than when we did before we replaced the seals in the rudder but it is still taking on more water overnight than it should. We pulled the boat out and filled the hull and no water came out overnight... I realize the pressure of sitting in the water is greater therefore pushing water into the boat but if no water comes out while of the hull while on land how do you figure out where the leak is coming from?

There isn't all that many places that it can come from, but... I've had a slow leak like you describe forever. I've always just left the auto bilge on and dealt with it. Since I installed my fresh-air exhaust it seems like the leaks have gone away so I'm thinking that the exhaust supertrapps were leaking. These are pretty easy to redo with RTV black high-temp gasket maker.

My boat is also taking on water. Alot more this year than last year. I know that my driveshaft stuffing box is dripping quite a bit more than it should be, but there has to be water getting in somewhere else too.
I'm thinking that its either the rudder shaft or the exaust.

I am planning on doing some work on the boat this winter so I will be checking all those places.

The rudder shaft will leak if you fill the bilge with water on the trailer... if you wiggle the rudder and it leaks, this is the culprit. I've never had my exhaust leak while on the trailer and it doesn't seem like it would be possible.

our rudder leaked pretty good when you wiggled it and fixed now but we are still taking on water. Looking back it was not that hard of a fix and it cost us about $20 for new seals and snap rings rather than paying someone.
Nothing comes out when the hull is full while on the trailer but water is still getting in while its on the water so we think it's something minor but the pressure of the water is causing it to come in.. We are going to check the exhaust next but we are going to take a break and enjoy the boat for awhile while the weather is still warm.

The boat will still take on water but if it sets in the water for a couple of days it stops. Anyone have some ideas.

good tips, thanks much