Replacement of Crankshaft Seals in V-Drive Boat

[dschultz]

Greetings,

I looked at a CS36T for purchase twice last year, 4 months apart. The first time, the bilge was pristine, the second time, there was significant oil in the bilge. Admittedly, with a 35 year old engine, this is to be expected. In addition, the mechanic said there was diesel "weeping". I allowed myself to be intimidated by the broker, who said that I couldn't watch the mechanic do the inspection, and that it was too rough to do the sea trial, so the hydro unit and v-drive were untested, and I IMO had no choice but to back out of the transaction.

Question 1: Is it correct to expect the weeping to be from the primary fuel pump, which is an expensive component, in an engine, to be rebuilt?

Question 2: How difficult is it to replace the rear main seal, and front seal on a W33 in a CS36T. Can the oil pan be dropped and moved out of the way, and a 2 piece seal be installed, fairly easily? Or, are such oil leaks basically unfixible?

thx

[DougR]

Question#1.... From what I see the W33 was equipped with an electric lift or priming pump, a small canister type secondary fuel filter and the usual collection of pipes, banjo bolts and washers and an inline high pressure fuel pump. Most likely if it is weeping fuel it is not coming from the high pressure fuel pump, but rather from other sources. This means it's a matter of going thru the system replacing old cracked rubber hoses, gaskets in the filter housing, distorted banjo bolt washers, etc.

Question#2 ...The online W33 parts book shows that the front and rear crankshaft seals on the engine are single part lip seals which normally don't present too much problem to replace. I think that access to the parts is going to the major hassle. If the engine is equipped with the Hurth 150IV transmission, then you will see that the prop shaft actually travels up thru the gear housing and the prop shaft flange is on the front of the gearbox. That means the prop shaft will have to be pushed part way out to enable the the gearbox to be removed for access to the flywheel and the seal hiding behind the flywheel. Not impossible, but maybe not too much fun!

Good luck with it!
DougR

[dschultz]

Thanks for the info...
Dana Schultz