Volvo Penta Saildrive Seal - Date stamp visible ?

[Newman]

Evening all

Firstly, and most important - Can the learned members of the forum please tell me if the moulded in 'date of manufacture' on the Volvo saildrive seal is visible when installed ?.

An article on the DIY Saildrive Seal Replacement in the April 2011 PBO emphasizes the importance of this date being current ................

Secondly - My boat was brought out of the water for saildrive seals renewal. I am now told that the shaft has to be sent away for attention because it is "scored", I think that was the term used. Apparently the metal in the damaged area is built up then ground down to where it should be.

I was told that if new seals were put on the shaft in its present condition they would have to be renewed again "in a few months time".

Being that I intend having the boat out in early winter for other works do you think that I could safely get away with new shaft seals until then. I have a feeling that the response will be "It depends how badly scored the shaft is " and I can understand that. But, in principal, if it is not too badly damaged ?

I know, in a sense, it is a false economy but I really want to get the boat back into the water asap and in the winter will enjoy a bit of supervised DIY in (again) fitting new shaft seals.

I have put the boatyard on hold until I receive your valued comments so your earliest responses will be much appreciated.

Many thanks

 

[Plevier]

Len
I don't know about the diaphragm seal.
Re the shaft seals, your rate of water leakage is not great is it? The oil hasn't gone much worse than it was? It was just a bit cloudy when I saw it, not like mayonnaise. Yes it is false economy now you've got so far but my guess is you could get away with it if you want. You'll have to start sailing instead of motoring everywhere though
However if Barry has already stripped it, how long will it take to get the shaft done? Can't you get it turned round in an extra week?
Mike

 

[scottie]

You are talking about 2 separate items here
The first seal is a non wearing diaphragm which is subject to long term degeneration and is changed as a precaution determined by date with a safety margin and failure is almost unknown.
The other seals are lip seals which are subject to wear and tear.
The contractor has removed the propeller shaft in order to facilitate the removal of the drive and as is good practice checked the shaft before refitting found the shaft to have damage.
If they refit the damaged shaft it is likely that water will leak into the drive causing total failure with replacement costing approx £3000.00 .They have a duty of care to you and would be entirely wrong not to recommend repair and I would say correct to refuse to put the damaged shaft back in.
There are however two alternative a new shaft at much greater cost or sleeving the existing shaft either of which would save time sleeving may even be cheaper!

 

[tawhiri]

Sail

Yes I would go with sleaving the shaft. Many years ago I did this to water pumps on cars. The preasures were less but if the sleaving is done correctly it should be as good as the original shaft.

 

[Martin_J]

The large diaphragm seal (that seals between the leg and the hull and is held down by a large metal ring) will have a date stamp on it somewhere - but being circular could have been installed with the date at any point of the clock...
Hopefully it has been installed with the imprints visible. The year could be two digits e.g. '94' or if more recent then could be four digits e.g. '2003'.
The part (including necessary gaskets, sealants and o-rings) is available for about £250 but is expensive on labour. Two days and a few evenings work yourself - or probably a thousand pounds in a yard.

Regarding the shaft.. It does depend on how bad the scoring is.. but if you have had water through them then take a good look now at the new lip seals and compare them with the old lip seals - - you will probably see a huge difference. New ones will be so much tighter on the shaft.

Rather than coating/grinding the shaft there was an article in PBO just a couple of months ago that covered the use of Speedi-Sleeves. They are a hard but very thin sleeve that just slides over the shaft to line up with the lip seals. A small bit of thread sealant helps hold them in place..
http://www.vsm.skf.com/en-US/HeavyDuty/KitsAndTools/SpeediSleeve.aspx

They are slid up the shaft by pushing on a lip that is then twisted off once the sleeve is in place. If you ever need to remove them in future then heat will expand them enough to be removed.
Hope this helps in the decision...

 

[Tranona]

Do not put it back together if there is any chance that the seals will be damaged. Just not worth the risk. Have just paid £3200 for a new drive (not because of seal failure - but getting seawater in is prime cause of premature failure), my advice would be buy a new shaft or have it sleeved as suggested above.

 

[rosie]

Saildrive Seal

The figures on the saildrive seal inc the date are visible just inside the metal clamping ring, but whether anyone could read them when installed in a boat is debatable - it would also depend on just how the rubber ring is orientated - it can be rotated to any position when fitting.

More to the point what do VP mean by a 7 year life? They state the seal should be replaced after 7 years, but is this 7 years hard sailing or 7 years sitting in a marina or in deed 7 years sitting on a hard? Also the date on the seal is date of manufacture, not of fitting so the whole business is rather meaningless.

If you are worried about the insurance aspect then the best bet is to keep a dated receipt for a new seal plus a dated invoice for fitting it, or some dated photo evidence if you fit it yourself.

Dave.

 

[SvenH]

Do not put it back together if there is any chance that the seals will be damaged. Just not worth the risk. Have just paid £3200 for a new drive (not because of seal failure - but getting seawater in is prime cause of premature failure), my advice would be buy a new shaft or have it sleeved as suggested above.

I have replaced the diaphragms and shaft sealt on my Yanmar this winter. The cost of replacing the shaft is not just the shaft but realigning the gears on the shaft which as I am tolt can not even be done properly by most mechanics.

So I used the speedi sleeve which went well. Just do not try it when you all ready have trouble with flat-pack furniture...

 

[Plevier]

Never heard of speedi-sleeve before - wish I had! Sounds wonderful for many jobs.