Catastrophic stern gland failure

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Albert Ross

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My boat’s got a Volvo stern gland
..
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.. if it failed she would sink. It looks fine and doesn’t appear to leak.

Question 1: How often should it be replaced?

Question 2: If I don’t replace it … will it start to leak or will it suddenly fail completely and sink the boat?

Question 3: How difficult is it to do? What tools are required? Can it be done on the piles between tides?

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
1. IIRC five years, should have the lips greased annually

2. Either

3. It depends how long you have dried... You will have to withdraw the shaft a bit, there is a protective "COLLAR" thing that comes with the seal to stop you buggering th lips as you push it over the shaft.

Having had a poorly installed PSS seal replaced by a Volvo, I now sleep better with the old fashioned gland on Gladys. it may drip but it won't sink the boat of a sudden.
 
I had a twin engined boat with this seal after 10yrs I sold the boat with the original seals,still watertight. my present boat is 6yrs on the same seal (single engine).I lift out every winter and lubricate the seal at same time.I keep a sardine tin under the seal to notify any drips but never had any. I consider this the best seal on the market,if you get some vibration between engine and g/box it will still stay watertight as the seal as its own built in "cutless"type bearing that always keeps the seal to the shaft.To lubricate I always use the correct Volvo grease.put about 1cu cm in the corner of a polythene bag, cut the corner with scissors,press the seal with finger and thumb at right angles to where you insert the corner of bag,push corner in about 1inch squeeze and slowly pull bag out so that the lip seals inside get grease.,rotate shaft to spread.Dont forget to press seal ,as above,when in water so that you drive the air out and water starts coming out.My boating is in very silted waters of Humber Trent and Ouse,
 
Agree five years is the recommended period, although many go on for much longer. Properly looked after i.e. lips greased and water admitted when launched after dry out, the seal could go on for much longer. popular opinion is that this is the one of the best bits of kit Volvo has produced. If you know what you are doing and are certain that everything will go without a hitch, it could be done between tides, but if it goes pear-shaped you could be in a lot of trouble. If you could find a yard to do a cheap deal lift out and in, possibly over a weekend when the boat could be left in the slings, that would be a safer bet.
 
Like you, I (well the boat not me personally) have a Volvo stern gland that is beyond the 5 year recommend use. I thoroughly check at the start of the season and grease the end. Feeling comfortable until someone mentioned that if it failed and the boat sank then the insurance company would be unlikely to cover. Hmmm...I now plan to replace at the end of the current season.
 
I cannot see that it would fail completely,too well made.all that would happen would be that the lip seal would drip a bit like most others do normally.there are 3 lip seals in every unit,so the chance of a drastic failure is extremely unlikely,provided that you maintain regularly.They cost about £100 to replace!!
 
I was wondering what they cost - I googled it but didn't seem to find a supplier.

Is this easy to install, once you've got the coupling off then just pull the shaft back and slip it on? (after removing the old one of course).

I'm fed up with wet bilges from my greaser type that doesn't want to behave for more than a few hours before dripping regularly. I did think about a PSS but these look just as good and possibly much cheaper.
 
Sorry, there are only TWO lip seals on a Volvo gland - the rear one, which is lubricated by seawater (hence the requirement to 'burp' the thing each time you dried out, and the forward seal which is grease lubricated as we all know.

Out of interest, I reckon this is one of the very best bits of kit on my boat. The last one I changed (only as part of a major refit) after 22 years without a single drip into the boat during that time. I've kept it as a spare, but have absolutely NO concerns about catastrophic failure.

I agree with others that if you start seeing a steady drip, haul the boat and change the gland.
 
As others have said, these glands go on and on, and are about the only items from Volvo which are reasonably priced.
Replacing it between tides is very well possible, unless you would dry out on a sandbank. Then there are problems getting the propaxle a foot or so out while the prop is perhaps buried in sand.
Gently warming the rubber helps to seat it properly, as the rubber is quite hard in < 20 degr. Also, the firm I bought mine said I'd better discard the SS sleeve and use two new Jubilee clips. They had a few coming off after the nuts vibrated loose, but I think Nylock nuts and Loctite would prevent that. The warming of the rubber turned out to be good advice. Otherwise a painless operation.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Feeling comfortable until someone mentioned that if it failed and the boat sank then the insurance company would be unlikely to cover.

[/ QUOTE ]

The question of whether insurers will pay up crops up every so often on the forum.

Is there any evidence that marine insurance companies do wriggle out of claims for this sort of thing or is this just scaremongering?
 
I think the Volvo jobs are only available in Metric propshaft sizes, or at least they were when I was looking. I fitted a PSS instead and it has done very well.
 
Before you get it sorted out to your satisfaction, if you obtain a good sized 'rubber' strip of about 5cm x 2m you could bandage over the whole gland quite quickly, and secure with a safety pin, amalgamating tape, or whatever. You could do this whenever you feel at risk remembering to undo it before running the engine (leave the keys hanging by the gland?).
 
flat 1 - don't want to be a bearer of bad news but I notice you have a rust streak mark underneath what looks like the standard volvo watertrap - rubber hose with two stainless end caps. I had the same rust streak and the lower end of the watertrap had corroded and was slowly leaking into the bilge creating a rust streak - amount of water was not noticable - just the streak was.

I replaced mine straight away - scared of exhaust gasses in the cabin - might be nothing in your case but maybe worth keeping an eye on it

regards
 
The blue grease is Volvo supplied - about £3.00 for a tube which should last at least 10 years.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My boat’s got a Volvo stern gland
.. if it failed she would sink. It looks fine and doesn’t appear to leak.......

[/ QUOTE ]
My boat's got a Volvo saildrive, if the gasket failed I'd sink a lot faster!
Don't worry about it, I had 2 boats with those stern glands and they were fine. Burp it after drying out, grease it once a year, and replace it maybe after 5 years if that's what Volvo say. Pretty cheap anyway. A really good and much under-rated Volvo part IMHO (perhaps the only such thing they sell! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif)
 
I am in the process of changing my old stuffing box for a Volvo stern gland, after all the good recommendations I have heard here.

For some peace of mind I have been given a tip by a local engineer - bunch a short length of inner tube over the back of the seal when you fit it, with a couple of hose clips around it. If you ever do get a failure it may be possible to slide the tube forward and do up the clips. The shaft won't turn, but water won't flood in!
 
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