Inboard shaft packing adjustment

[Robbabob]

The new to us 1990 Carver Montego 32' (twin inboards) is in really great shape. A couple of moderate concerns to take care of in the first year, one of them being to tighten the port screw packing nut. My surveyor tells me there should be no drip when the shaft is not spinning, but a drop per minute is still no big deal (not enough to sink the vessel if monitored at least once a week/month; this one is at maybe 6 drops per minute.

In my quest to fix things in my control, I took a pipe wrench to try and get a little turn on the nut... after crawling in and contorting my body, I thought I had a good position to make a little progress. As soon as I put any force on the nut, water squirted into the bilge. I thought maybe I was putting an uneven force on the nut, so i adjust the wrench and went to it again. Again, water squirted at a fast enough rate to concern me, "if I mess this up and sink her in the slip....!"

Each time I quit putting pressure on it, the drip would return to a rate of about 6-10 drops per minute. Maybe a little faster than before I started. The next day as we head out on the lake, I turned the bilge pump on manually and got maybe a couple gallons out. Later in the day, through the following day, nothing pumped out, and a visual back at the dock confirmed there was minimal water present.

FINALLY THE QUESTION

Should I expect the packing to allow water to squirt while I'm trying to tighten it? I realize the material is not like a 1-piece Teflon packing that actually squeezes on the shaft, but it was scary to think the packing would allow a squirt like that.

I'm probably over-concerned and need to just get in there and give it a good hard go of it. What say you? Else, I have a pro do it... and nobody wants to pay a mechanic for an easy DIY fix.

Thanks!

 

[bobdec]

Could be you moved the alignment with the wrench on it. Or maybe the packing needs replacement. Do you know how old it is , 2-3 years is a rule of thumb, or when tightening has no effect. Been a while since I had the inboard, but I don't remember having excessive leakage while doing the adjustment.

 

[Robbabob]

Could be you moved the alignment with the wrench on it. Or maybe the packing needs replacement.

Good information to ask the previous owner. I can email the broker who says the seller will be happy to answer any questions that come up.

Thanks!

 

[QC]

Moving to inboard section...

 

[Robbabob]

It's been 2 years this November since the packing was replaced. How about the threads being left handed? I'm told I have counter-rotating screws, so would one of them have left handed threads? The nut I was addressing didn't have a notch around it, and I can't even see the other nut. I can see this is going to be costly come fall time.

I ask on here because it is a REAL pain to get close to the threads to study.

Thanks again in advance.

 

[Lyle29464]

I have not seen any left hand stuffing boxes. I usually spray that area down with a WD 40 type oil often. The boxes on my 28 slickcraft are difficult to reach. I usually tap the lock nut with a glancing blow to the high point of the nut to unlock it. Then you can turn it at the same time you turn the packing nut. I would do about 1/3 turn at first then lock it with the hammer and try it out. repeat as needed. once you have it set to a drip about every 20 or 30 seconds while in gear lock it there.I really dont like the threads to be 100% clean. It can get lose and leak or even screw off or screw too tight. If you get it too tight and it never drips it can get too hot and also it can cause damage to your shaft from corrosion.

 

[Robbabob]

Thank you for the input. It is very difficult to get into the location, so I will wait for fare weather (If I even do it myself).

Appreciate your input!