97 Super Sport water leak at transmission

[jonathswind]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and a proud new Nautique owner. I purchased a 97 Super Sport without test driving (I know bad idea) as I really wanted the boat and got a decent deal, everything seems to be just fine mechanically other than a major water leak at the transmission. In the first pic it seems to be coming in right in front of the brass fitting connecting to the stainless shaft. The second pic is under the boat and it seems it has leaked for some time. Is there a seal in between the two areas that would cause the leak and is this something a novice could possibly fix or will I need to seek my professional mechanic? Thank you for all your help!

[jonathswind]

After doing more research, I believe my stuffing box needs repacked, is the 97 model waterless?

[jrivera1262]

This is a very easy fix. You can find videos on YouTube on how to redo the packing. Will take you about 10-15 minutes. You can get the shaft packing and safety wire through nautiqueparts.com. Don't forget to use "PND" discount code. Good luck!

[jonathswind]

Thank you for the response!

[DanielC]

A super sport is a V-drive. Ain't nothing on a V-drive that is a 15 minute fix

[jrivera1262]

Shame on me for the 10-15 minute time estimate. Ill make sure to give myself 100 lashings. I think his main concern was verifying the leak and if he has to pay a professional mechanic an obscene amount of money to do it.


Jonathswind: tackle the job yourself. Once you get to the stuffing box its a simple fix that you can do yourself. Take the time to learn about your boat and how to work on it. Trust me, its more satisfying than paying someone. Most importantly don't be afraid to ask for help.

[jonathswind]

Thank you jrivera. If anyone has repacked the stuffing box on a vdrive, is it easier for me to take out the back seat and panels to try and work from above or remove the motor compartment panels and try to tackle it from the side? Also, from the pic it looks like I will not have much room to slide the brass fitting on the shaft to repack, should I remove something else or will that be enough room to stuff one at the time? Thanks!

[s_kelley2000]

I think the best way to gain access on your boat is going to be to remove the back seat rest and the dividers behind the seat rest and the engine divider on the port side (assuming you have the sunpad actuator on the starboard side). You could probably do it by just removing the port engine divider but if you remove the seat rest as well you can lie down with your legs in the boat lounge instead of standing on your head or being a contortionist in the locker....it took me a few maintenance jobs to realize 5 minutes of disassembly/reassembly was well worth it. There isn't much room to work down there so having the right tools will help a ton. A pair of packing nut wrenches with short handles will be worth every penny. When you repack you might want to drop it in the water before you button every thing up and put the safety wire back on. You want it to be tight but it should still drip a few drops a minute. If it is too tight the packing won't get lucubrated and it will burn up.

[jonathswind]

Thank you Shawn, this is good information! I'm going to tackle the job this weekend. I did notice while it is leaking that there is rust particles coming out as you can see in the pic below the stuffing box which I assume is normal for a 97 model or should I be concerned about the rust and having to replace the entire stuffing box?

[crobi2]

The stuffing box materials are brass with the exception of the rubber radiator hose and the stainless hose clamps and safety wire. Prop shaft is stainless too. Should be no rust.

Having done this job on a 2000 model, I recommend also just taking out the four screws and pulling up the floor section so you can lay down on the gas tank and get your arms around the vdrive. Once you have taken out the rear seatback, seat and seat support, the floor will pop right out.

When I did mine, I was replacing the cutless bearing so I had the shaft out and thus had the packing nut in hand at my bench to pull the old packing out, measure and pack in the new (Teflon) packing. Since you will have to do all this with the shaft still in there, you probably will appreciate the extra room with the floor out. The design is so modular, it's awesome and actually takes very little time.

I also was able to take the boat on the water without the floor and get the tightness just were I wanted it before I put the floor and seats back in.

P.s. you might want to also get a piece of the hose on hand (white lake sells it) in case it is also bad. (Mine was fine).

Good luck!

[jonathswind]

Thanks crobi, it could be the old packing broken down coming out. I ordered the gore packing and the flax packing from nautiqueparts, you suggest using the gore packing?

[DanielC]

Most likely, the packing nut has never been adjusted since your boat left the factory. Before you go to the trouble to take everything apart, and replace the packing, just try removing the safety wire, and tightening the packing nut. Three or four drops of water a minute, or a drop every 15 to 20 seconds is about the amount you want it to leak. If that slows doe=wn the leak, you are done.
If that does not fix the leak around the shaft, then you can replace the packing.

[jonathswind]

I may try that first Daniel. I'm a newbie to all this so thanks for all your help. In doing some research I read somewhere that as maintenance that the packing should be redone at 7 to 10 years? I have been reading so much I could be thinking of something else.

[jonathswind]

Had success tightening the packing nut down and got the leak to 4 to 5 drips a minute, thank you for all your help.
After that being a success I was excited to take a ride only to find out when I got ready to take off the engine is sluggish.
The boat ran extremely hard last weekend on my short test, the only thing I have done is tighten the packing nut down, took water strainer off and cleaned it out, I just unscrewed, cleaned and put back on, there is not some special way to do this is it?
Could my fuel filter have a lot of trash in it to make the throttle sluggish? I ask this as I have no idea how old the gas is that was in the tank and how long it set-up, was thinking I should drain the tank and change the fuel filter, is this options to get it going?
Thanks!

[Pjoachim]

Sluggish all the time or just when excelerating? Could be bad gas? When you cleaned out the water filter did you make sure to check the water gasket before you put it back on?