water leaking around shaft

[01launch]

First off this is my first post on here . Love the site and the boats. I have a 01 21 launch and water is leaking around my drive shaft around what looks like a brass fitting right where the shaft comes in the hull of the boat. Anyone know how to fix it ?

[Patrick56]

You don't fix this, but it does require adjusting.

Inside the brass enclosure is a packing gland. Your driveshaft must pass from inside the boat (dry) to the prop (underwater, wet). The shaft turns and the brass enclosure is fixed. For lack of a better description the packing gland looks like a rope wrapped around the shaft. Water fills the brass enclosure and soaks the packing gland for lubrication between the spinning shaft and the fixed brass enclosure. You want a "slow drip" to be visible were the shaft comes out of the brass enclosure when your boat is in the water. If that slow drip is a steady stream you need to tighten the large brass cap. If there is no water visible, you probably need to loosen the brass cap because you risk building too much heat and damaging your drive shaft. Make small adjustments and see how it changes the drip. This is a lot easier to access on the direct drive Launch vs. the V-drive.

Hope this helps.

[01launch]

Thank you for the fast reponse. I will have to go home and check it when I get off work.