FINALLY! Fixed my leak!!
10-11-2007, 07:54 PM
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FINALLY! Fixed my leak!!
I've owned the boat for three and a half years now, and it's always had a leak coming from the port side extension box. I've had the drive off countless times...resealed the box to the transom, the gimbal to the box, replaced the bellows, siliconed everything in sight (from the fluid cooler at the bottom of the drive to the exhaust ports in it to the doors on the extension boxes)...hell, you name it, I did it!
In the mean time, thank god Fountain has two EXCELLENT bilge pumps with wonderful float switches that would kick every twenty or thirty minutes...not an easy thing to sleep on a boat with a leak! I would desperately seek a place to plug in everywhere I stayed...even though I had two batteries (one deep cycle, one starting) and a jump pack. Needless to say, it was a nightmare that cost me many hours of work AND sleep.
A HUGE "THANK YOU" to my bud Obnoxus for diagnosing the problem and setting me up with the solution! The problem: a seal on the steering shaft...$15! Well, $15 and a COMPLETE teardown of the drive, if I didn't have boxes, I would've had to pull the engine...thanks to Straight Jacket for the hard work!
I had been looking to sell the boat possibly this winter and go bigger...now that my biggest problem is fixed, I gotta stay with the Red Rocket for another season!
In the mean time, thank god Fountain has two EXCELLENT bilge pumps with wonderful float switches that would kick every twenty or thirty minutes...not an easy thing to sleep on a boat with a leak! I would desperately seek a place to plug in everywhere I stayed...even though I had two batteries (one deep cycle, one starting) and a jump pack. Needless to say, it was a nightmare that cost me many hours of work AND sleep.
A HUGE "THANK YOU" to my bud Obnoxus for diagnosing the problem and setting me up with the solution! The problem: a seal on the steering shaft...$15! Well, $15 and a COMPLETE teardown of the drive, if I didn't have boxes, I would've had to pull the engine...thanks to Straight Jacket for the hard work!
I had been looking to sell the boat possibly this winter and go bigger...now that my biggest problem is fixed, I gotta stay with the Red Rocket for another season!
10-14-2007, 10:30 AM
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Mike got his 2 seconds of TV fame yesterday. Shogren used a clip of Mike running in the 2007 Poker run. What made things worse is the next commercial break BZ had almost 3 seconds of air time on one of the Fountain Commercials. Those guys are going to be hard to live with this winter!
10-21-2007, 12:18 AM
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sommerfliesby,
i believe i have the same problem on my powerquest. i have a leak that was diagnosed as the port side steering shaft seal. i dont think ill get as lucky as you (no boxes) though as i have been told my motor will have to be yanked to fix the $15.00 seal. from what i have been told there is no way around it but to pull the motor. i heard there is a kit out there that requires you to cut out the upper part of the drive where it says mercruiser that allows access to the seal but i dont think i want to do that.
needless to say i have used my two bilge pumps alot as well.
i may have to ask obnoxus to see if he knows a way to have this taken care of w/out the labor of pulling to motor, too. i have put it off just incase i lose a motor that way i could take care of the seal when the motors are out.
i believe i have the same problem on my powerquest. i have a leak that was diagnosed as the port side steering shaft seal. i dont think ill get as lucky as you (no boxes) though as i have been told my motor will have to be yanked to fix the $15.00 seal. from what i have been told there is no way around it but to pull the motor. i heard there is a kit out there that requires you to cut out the upper part of the drive where it says mercruiser that allows access to the seal but i dont think i want to do that.
needless to say i have used my two bilge pumps alot as well.
i may have to ask obnoxus to see if he knows a way to have this taken care of w/out the labor of pulling to motor, too. i have put it off just incase i lose a motor that way i could take care of the seal when the motors are out.
10-21-2007, 07:28 PM
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There is a kit you can buy to fix this problem without pulling the engine. Its a stainless plate that gets installed over the hole you cut in the upper shaft area of the tramsom plate. . I have the plates in stock at the shop and can email you pics of how to do it. [email protected]
10-21-2007, 11:27 PM
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There is a kit you can buy to fix this problem without pulling the engine. Its a stainless plate that gets installed over the hole you cut in the upper shaft area of the tramsom plate. . I have the plates in stock at the shop and can email you pics of how to do it. [email protected]
i sent you an email. thanks!
