Rudder stuffing box

[single]

The stiff rudder saga continues and i'm down to the last component, the stuffing box! Everything is in bits and the only friction is where the shaft goes through the hull. I have now removed the four rings of packing but its still stiff so any ideas why? It there something else in that housing that can make it stiff?

View attachment 45372

 

[sailorman]

i have similar , how do you grease it, mine has with a greaser & i added a grease nipple when i replaced the rudder 16 yrs ago

 

[Tranona]

Probably solidified grease. Drop the rudder, clean the shaft and check what the bearing material is in the tube.

 

[single]

It has a standard remote greaser which seems to be working well. With the packing removed i filled the area wit ACF50 yesterday and expected to see it seeping out through the hull fitting but it didn't! I wonder if either boiling water or heat applied might free up any hard grease?

 

[yoda]

It has a standard remote greaser which seems to be working well. With the packing removed i filled the area wit ACF50 yesterday and expected to see it seeping out through the hull fitting but it didn't! I wonder if either boiling water or heat applied might free up any hard grease?

Assuming you are ashore then heat from a heat gun will certainly help the grease to become more fluid, I however would look to drop the rudder if only a short way to check both bearing surfaces.

Yoda

 

[single]

Assuming you are ashore then heat from a heat gun will certainly help the grease to become more fluid, I however would look to drop the rudder if only a short way to check both bearing surfaces.

Yoda

I will try heat gun later. Removing the rudder is a job i'm trying to avoid but i might have to.

 

[Tranona]

Having a greaser suggests that the bearing needs grease for lubrication. However, if there is no sign of anything coming out of the bottom it suggests that the tube is solidly packed. It may well be that the upper bearing is bronze and the lower bearing is water lubricated.

 

[single]

I'm not exactly sure what I did but I ended up dropping the rudder a few inches and moving it about. Repositioned it, new packing and all well.

 

[single]

Since everything is free now, i have replaced or tightened all the bolts in the system and bled it. Its almost perfect except a slight clonking noise in the hyd. ram if i jiggle the wheel. Is it still air in the system, worn ram or just normal?