Rudder Packing Gland to Steering Quadrant Leak

[Boatyarddog]

It's right to use a screw and screw it into the packing under the gland seat, then pry it using dikes or pliers and lever it out, be sure to get them all, use a small mirror and good bright light to look into it, usually 3.


Sent from my iPad SV Cloud Duster

[bstreep]

Looks like ours. We did ours a year or so ago. Simple packing gland.

Right. "simple packing gland". that's what it is, but not so simple to get at it. We had to disassemble the quadrant, which took cheaters and impact wrenches, and lots of PB Blaster. Once we got it apart, it really was kind of simple to repack.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Pretty good little bilge flushing system ya guys got there...

As implied, this is gunna be a crap job do to the amount of frustration performing a series of straightforward simple steps.... None of which is likely to go smoothly.... ****sigh***

Everybody's got this right, as in moving the quadrant first.... If there's plenty of room to just slide it up, you might see if it makes sense to zip tie your cable to the quadrant.... maybe not...

As A64 says... you should be dousing with your penetrating oil de jeur like you're exorcising a demon with holy water....

Ann's dental pick is good, I find a drywall screw to be my favorite... I think like all mention, moving weight and having plans and patience, you'll have no problem at the dock... You will need more beer or rum after though...

This is a packing puller.

[minaret]

Standard kit.

[minaret]

Pro kit.

[minaret]

It is often easier to put a plastic 50 gallon drum on the foredeck and fill it with water than a bunch of moving.

[HappyMdRSailor]

And of course minaret did not mention that he acquired these implements during his previous career...

Seems that information can be as tricky to extract as packing, but having the right tool for the job makes all the difference in the world...

[Zach]

It might be worthwhile to drop the rudder and replace the hose while you are there unless you know when the last time the rudder has been out.

Also, while the rudder is out you can tap the packing gland for a grease port, and add a grease cup.

That makes the packing last a lot longer, and if you use some viscous water proof grease you can get a leak-free seal if the boat is going to sit for any length of time.... just by re-filling the grease cup and cranking it all the way down.

If you don't currently have an upper rudder bearing, and just a fiberglass tube, buck algonquin makes rudder ports that are reasonably priced... Made of bronze, and no hose to leak down the road.

The install you have now is cheapest for the manufacturer to install...

If you have the rudder out and don't mind a day or three of labor, a bronze rudder port is fairly straight forward to install.

Rudder Ports On Buck Algonquin

[Ocean Girl]

Ok. We are tied up at a city Marina bulkhead in Houma Louisiana. I was able to get to the rudder via engine compartment. I removed two of the three (#11) bolts from the stuffing box gland. The third bolt, the very aft bolt, will not clear the steering quad, though it is completely unthreaded, I just cannot wiggle it clear.
I pried the glad apart, it was pretty corroded. So in the pics it is as far as I can get it.
I will post one pic here and I have a bunch posted on our blog for you all to see.

The big problem is I do not see a bolt that threads into the rudder stock, the bolt that I'd remove to lift the quadrant so I can open the gland wider to repack. I felt the exposed rudder stock and it is smooth.
Help.
Rudder Packing Gland and Steering Quadrant | Rain Dog

[Ocean Girl]

Ok. My hubby pointed out the bolts right in front of my face.
The middle top goes all the way through rudder. I assume I must loosen all bolts and remove rudder stock bolt before I can budge the quadrant up? It took a good 30 minutes to remove the three screws due to the limited movement, ugh!

As you can see we have access above. Can we tie line to a piece of wood placed under the quad to lift evenly? I should mark the stock with sharpie to find my way back to the rudder stock hole. Trying to figure things out before going back in there. The position I'm in is, well, torture!

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Ok. My hubby pointed out the bolts right in front of my face.
The middle top goes all the way through rudder. I assume I must loosen all bolts and remove rudder stock bolt before I can budge the quadrant up? Obviously it's 1. remove the center bolt, and 2. loosen the outer two... You might find that taking everything apart completely is the best move for easier access, instead of sliding the quadrant up... As mentioned below, yes... mark everything with a sharpie... It took a good 30 minutes to remove the three screws due to the limited movement, ugh!

As you can see we have access above. Can we tie line to a piece of wood placed under the quad to lift evenly? You shouldn't have to, but bungee cords and zip ties are your friends here... I should mark the stock with sharpie to find my way back to the rudder stock hole. Trying to figure things out before going back in there. The position I'm in is, well, torture!

It's been a couple hours since the post, so you guys are likely way ahead of the game... I love your arrows!

(don't forget your wrench... )

[JPA Cate]

Ocean Girl,

Yeah, Boat Yoga can be painful. Thanks to sailorchic for the term. Jim just calls it "grovelling."

I hope the rest goes smoothly for you.

Ann

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Ocean Girl,

Yeah, Boat Yoga can be painful. Thanks to sailorchic for the term. Jim just calls it "grovelling."

I hope the rest goes smoothly for you.

Ann

Ann,

I think anything "above deck" is referred to as boat yoga...
i.e. Standing swanlike on the boom with a boathook trying to grab that swinging halyard just out of reach....

This, I'm pretty sure is called bilge yoga....

[Ocean Girl]

Ok. After an hour and half of bilge yoga I hit a wall. The SS bolts are frozen in the thick aluminium steering quadrant( as predicted by some here!!). Fused would be a better description. I was able to get the nut of the rudder stock bolt easily(ss nut) but the bolt just won't budge. I put quite a bit of torque on it and even tapped it fairly hard with a hammer, nothing.
We have decided to wait till haul out to do anything more forceful as I'm afraid the 25 year old bolt will break. So I put it all back together and dogged down on the packing gland real well, which is tighter. I also might throw some rescue tape on it if I was not able to decrease the inflow of water by tightening the gland. We won't know if it is better until we motor down the ICW. Cannot take a test run here, too shallow.
Thanks for all the help.
Erika

[neilpride]

Ouchh!! Not a surprise for me, are you try to dremel cut the heads and bang the screw inside with a piece of rod? sometimes work, the heat torch is another alternative but since there is a small risk i dont recommend you, we heat the heads for 2 or 3 minutes with the flame set in small and we get 80% of succes so far so good... When you finally get rid off the screw and with the quadrant off remember to put together with lots of anticorrosive paste, Tef Gel or lanocote.. Good luck we stay tuned...