doing sail drive seals underwater

[Fishman]

I was stupid enough to forget my trolling fishing lines in the water whilst anchoring, got the 120 pound mono leader around the shaft, when I dived on it I saw the worst case scenario: pieces of brown lip seal rubber. The outer lipseal on my Volvo saildrive was totally chewed out. Being too far from haul-out facilities I had to do the job underwater...what we used to call in the army a 'bush fix'. I motored a few more hours, but soon the oil was a yellow milky goo. Soooo....here goes. Luckily I have a great oil change manual vacuum type suction pump which is the key to doing this job in the water:
1. Suck out the bad oil (after a bit of poking I get the little suction pipe all the way down the leg), this is done from INSIDE the boat!
2. Remove hold nut, shaft nut, prop, line cutter, anode (did this quite easily snorkeling, you will need someone to hold the prop whikst you undo the nut) - underwater, you need some bigger spanners/piece of wood etc
3. Remove the 2 allen key bolts which hold in the 'seals housing' (6mm allen key) - underwater
4. Remove the housing thingy, at this point sea water enters the drive. - underwater.
5. Tie the shaft so it doesnt fall out of the saildrive!!
6. Now you go on deck and tackle the housing containing the two seals. Remove the 2 old seals - need long nose plyers, flat screw driver, hammer.
7. Now you need to get the new seals in WITHOUT DAMAGING them: They are inserted from the inboard side, the seals are approx 31mm diameter, they have to go through a 28mm diameter opening, you actaully need a special tool. I have a hole saw kit with a 25mm hole saw, I grinded the teeth off and it became a good seal driver. (But lots of cursing to get to this point)
8. You need a hard surface, seal driver and a heavy hammer - I went to the beach, found a big rock and had to really HAMMWER it, lots of grease etc, with a lot of not so gentle persuasion I got them in, make sure they both face the right way. They sit back to back.
9. Then I reassembled the whole lot underwater, not that hard.
10. Then I sucked the sea water out the drive with my pump (from inside the boat), flushed through some clean oil, sucked that out too, more clean oil, motored for an hour changed the oil again.
So far so good - it will last a while until I can get a haul out!!! Anyway, a mans gotta do what you gotta do...I thought someone may be in similar predicament at some stage...
cheers
Fishy

[Inthewind]

I really have to hand it to a guy who can tackle a problem and fix it where others would just give up and say it can't be done. More power to ya...GOOD JOB.

[Chief Engineer]

My kinda guy.

Improvise, overcome, adapt.

[Sunspot Baby]

Wow. I don't know if my suction changer could be wormed all the way down in the drive. It looks nearly impossible from looking in the top.

One thing I might have considered is, after replacing the seals, pull the bottom plug and with a diver under the boat watching, rig my dinghy pump to put air into the top. Eventually this should displace the water and bubbles would start coming out the bottom. Then, replace the plug and fill with fresh oil.

Great job and one I hope I never have to do.

George

[Boomp]

Good Post...and you fixed it properly, well good enough to use. I'd have been sailing and towing w the dingy but when we tackle something thats really difficult and pull it off, it gives a nice feeling of accomplishment and real freedom. Glad your out of the bush!

[bmartinsen]

Very good, I've often considered doing mine on the old engine but did the haulout instead. I believe you have a Cat and that the engine is above the waterline? Mine was well below the waterline and I didn't believe it could be done quick enough.
Brad

[Fishman]

Mine is on a cat (1991 Fountain Pajot Casamance 45ft), my Volvo drives are well below the waterline, when you remove the seal housing (its a male component which fits with 2 o-rings into a circular 'female' opening in the bottom of the drive behing the prop) you are effectively opening the bottom of the drive, you can see the gears etc and you can remove the shaft if you wish, sea water will now flood the bottom of the drive, but if you keep the saildrive oil cap and dipstick screwed in, then the air locked inside will prevent much seawater from entering...I dont know if Yanmar saildrives also have a removable 'seal housing thingy' which allow you to put the seals in ABOVE WATER. Inserting the seals cannot be done underwater, but you dont need to with the Volvo. And like I said, the key to success was my oil suction pump and its smallest suction hose. I discovered by chance (and about 5 minutes of poking around) that the little hose slipped past everything, all the way down to the bottom. Note thatI push it down the dipstick hole (which is more on the side), not the bigger other one. I rarely get it to go down on my first poke!

[never monday]

BOLD move...congrats :beer:

[Therapy]

WOW!!!!!

[bmartinsen]

You have the newer saildrive, my old saildrive (MD17 with S120)dipstick was not screw in hence not watertight. My new D2-40 & S130 I might try it. Hopefully, not soon. I'll keep this one in mind.
Cheers

[Sunspot Baby]

My S120 dip stick has a bayonet type fastener and, I think, is sealed.
George

[SurfNRG]

Originally Posted by Fishman

3. Remove the 2 allen key bolts which hold in the 'seals housing' (6mm allen key) - underwater
4. Remove the housing thingy, at this point sea water enters the drive. - underwater.
5. Tie the shaft so it doesnt fall out of the saildrive!!
6. Now you go on deck and tackle the housing containing the two seals. Remove the 2 old seals - need long nose plyers, flat screw driver, hammer.
7. Now you need to get the new seals in WITHOUT DAMAGING them: They are inserted from the inboard side, the seals are approx 31mm diameter, they have to go through a 28mm diameter opening, you actaully need a special tool. I have a hole saw kit with a 25mm hole saw, I grinded the teeth off and it became a good seal driver. (But lots of cursing to get to this point)
8. You need a hard surface, seal driver and a heavy hammer - I went to the beach, found a big rock and had to really HAMMWER it, lots of grease etc, with a lot of not so gentle persuasion I got them in, make sure they both face the right way. They sit back to back.
9. Then I reassembled the whole lot underwater, not that hard.
Fishy

Fishy, Sounds like you just replaced the O-Rings (items 19 in the diagram listed on the link below) or did you do the sealing rings as well (items 18). I heard the sealing rings are the main seals that prevent the water intrusion. The o-rings are the ones you had a difficult time pressing in correct?
I'm about ready to change out my prop shaft seals as well and was curious to the process. Fortunately, I'm hauled out so shouldn't be nearly as difficult as your admirable feat.

And do you use regular 15-40W (mineral) oil or synthetic? I've heard it's best to use synthetic just in case there is water intrusion (the seals begin to leak) the synthetic still maintains EP strength where the mineral oils break down when mixed with water.

Lower Gear Unit - Volvo Penta

Kevin S/V Bladerunner

[Jacana]

Fishman,got to hand it to you,so far from a haulout facility yet had the spare seals on board ,well done mate.Two types of legs,short and long shaft 2.2lt oil in short and can be extracted from inside 2.5lt in long and cant be fully extracted,if you have the long saildrive let me know how you get all the oil out as i cant get right to the bottom.Thanks Geoff.