Water in the Bilge?? Where is it coming from

[boatnfly]

boat is in great shape now, looking to sell and upgrade

[onthefly55]

Boatnfly, did you r&r the complete rudder port or just the cracked play. I have a similar problem and am wondering how hard it is to remove the original and how hard to get a nice tight seal on a replacement

[boatnfly]

I replaced both the cracked plate and port, as I bought them together. But I don't think you need to worry about a tight seal. Use lots of 3M marine sealant and new packing. It'll be fine. Easy fix however I had to remove the port ballast tank and lay on my back squiggle in and squiggle out of there to reach everything. It was a good AB workout getting myself out. Don't forget to buy new SS wire to safety wire the top rudder nut to the steering arm (VERY IMPORTANT). I also went to Harbor freight and bought a extra large (cheap) channel lock for both removing the packing nut and replacing. Other than the awkward body position it really was an easy job.

[boatnfly]

Oh yeah don't tighten the new plate nuts too much. Let the 3M sealant do the sealing, if you tighten too much I think you risk cracking the new plate.

[SuperAirIan]

You can get safety wire by using .041 Stainless Steel welding wire. I had some serious leaking going on as well. Repacked the rudder with GFO. Still leaked. This Spring I replaced the consumables in the PSS drip-less. Still leaked. I then noticed that ALL the hose clamps around the back half of the motor/V-drive were "loose". Tightened them all up and NO MORE LEAKS! Not the OP's problem. Just mine.