Bad boatyard Part 2

[Snowgoose71]

So my initial post described what I think was way too many hours to remove and replace a propshaft....and that there was limited communication and no heads up on what the cost would be (even though I asked!).

However, the boat is back at the slip. The main reason to remove and replace prop shaft and rubber volvo seal was to stop the constant dripping from the seal. The boatyard manager said the "pits" in the propshaft were preventing a good tight seal by the lip of the volvo boot. Ok done!

Guess what....still dripping! Seems to drip more after the engine has been run but intermittently it'll drip even when the engine hasn't been run. Notified boatyard manager on Friday march 19th and he said he'd have tech look at it and adjust. It is now March 24 and I have had no update. They had a credit card on file....I have since called and reported credit card stolen!!! I'm not paying for services until this issue is fixed correctly and no leaking.

I asked the boatyard manager about alignment of shaft and he said it was fine.....so not sure what he is going to do to fix it.

[Yellowtulip]

Was the seal greased before the boat was splashed? Did you or anyone else ‘burp’ the seal i.e. squeeze it to expel the air from it after launch? Both or either of these issues will cause dripping with a Volvo seal.

[Vasco]

I think Volvo says to replace the seal every 500 hours although I have had one that lasted over 2000 hours. Also very important to grease and burp seal. Use a large drinking straw (used to get them from McDonalds) to grease the seal. Squirt an inch or so of grease into the straw, pinch end flat, slide into seal, squeeze grease out of straw into seal.

[R2boat]

We replaced a Tides Marine seal and it did leak initially. Called Tides and they said it had to be run in for several hours....sure enough it stopped leaking after putting some hours on it

[Snowgoose71]

Originally Posted by R2boat

We replaced a Tides Marine seal and it did leak initially. Called Tides and they said it had to be run in for several hours....sure enough it stopped leaking after putting some hours on it

Hopefully that is the case. The seal was burped when placed back in the water / before starting the engine. I do not know if they greased the lip of the seal or not. Plan on running her a few hours this coming weekend for blessing of the fleet and will check it out after that.

[Yellowtulip]

Originally Posted by Snowgoose71

Hopefully that is the case. The seal was burped when placed back in the water / before starting the engine. I do not know if they greased the lip of the seal or not. Plan on running her a few hours this coming weekend for blessing of the fleet and will check it out after that.

It might well be worth greasing the seal yourself. I once stopped a drip by doing that. I’d undergreased it slightly. The technique shown above is a good one.

[Pete7]

Equally use the Volvo grease. I did try to use a white Castrol grease only to find the seal dripped and it all had to be taken apart cleaned and put back in again.

[Yellowtulip]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Equally use the Volvo grease. I did try to use a white Castrol grease only to find the seal dripped and it all had to be taken apart cleaned and put back in again.

Yes indeed.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Equally use the Volvo grease. I did try to use a white Castrol grease only to find the seal dripped and it all had to be taken apart cleaned and put back in again.

How very like Volvo to do that! They seem to often use proprietary bits where standard issue would work well, driving up the profits from after sales service.

Jim

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

How very like Volvo to do that! They seem to often use proprietary bits where standard issue would work well, driving up the profits from after sales service.

Jim

Back in the day we used to say "that's why their engines were cheaper.. sell near cost and make the profit on the bits".

[sandy stone]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Equally use the Volvo grease. I did try to use a white Castrol grease only to find the seal dripped and it all had to be taken apart cleaned and put back in again.

That hasn't been my experience at all. In the ten years I've owned my boat, I've used any grease available, from generic blue wheel bearing grease to lately the Lubriplate 130AA recommended for my Maxprop. No drips in all that time. I think the secret is to use plenty of grease (there are several lips in the seal) and hit it at least once a year. And certainly burp it if it's been out of the water.