Water leak around dripless bearing

[crquisto]

By end piece, I'm assuming you mean the stainless ring attached to the black ring that has the hoses connected to it. But you know what they say can happen when you "assume".

[km1125]

I think it's more of an issue than just tapping that in 1/4" and reclamping. That barbed section should be at least as long to pass both those hose clamps... about 1.5", so if it takes that last 1/4" to make it seal, then something else is wrong there. You might get by with it by that 1/4", but I'd be taking that whole thing apart the next time I was hauled to find out why that is.

[Viper]

I believe the clamping surface is smooth, no barb unless something has changed.

You need to find out if the unit is cracked. It should not leak there. The gap isn't the cause. Try this; remove the water hoses, loosen the forward clamps just enough so that you can rotate the forward assembly. You should be able to feel with your hand where the housing ends in the tube by squeezing the blue hose. Get an approximate measurement of that length. Slowly rotate and pull the assembly out of the blue hose. Stop every half inch and rotate while you inspect the housing for cracks. Pull an additional half inch and inspect again until you feel you're close enough to the end of the tube/bearing. Don't worry, while water will come in if the assembly accidentally comes all the way out, it won't be so uncontrollable that you wouldn't be able to put the assembly back in and stop the water, just be prepared in case it does happen. The following is a newer style but the inside where it clamps should look about the same:
https://www.tidesmarine.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=414_62_417_544&product_id=783

[crquisto]

I tried tapping the unit further into the blue tube. Failing that, I was able to turn the unit side to side and close about half the distance. While doing all this with the clamps loose, I had quite a bit of water leaking into the boat. I re-clamped as tight as I dared without breaking the clamps but still have a slow drip of water. I don't know how these things are supposed to work, but I'm pretty sure now that the water is entering from the prop end of the shaft.

Viper, I have squeezed the blue tube and can't discern a place where the housing might end. Perhaps if I begin to pull it out I'll be able to feel it. I guess I don't understand how the housing is supposed to help keep water out if it just pushes up against something else to seal on the back end.

Here's a little more info that may shed some light. It came out in my survey three years ago that this boat was run aground twice by previous owners. Once required starboard transmission replacement and the other time required port transmission replacement. Yet the logs look the same indicating the different mechanics went to the effort of matching them or they just weren't replaced. Maybe that port log is the original and it is damaged as I have always gotten a little water in that area when I run hard.

[SanJuanDreamer]

I have had my 98 Mariner 350 working on eight year and during that time I've worked with the shaft packing's more then I liked. With packing, I found if there is a slight bend in the shall it'll leak. If there is corrosion on the shaft where the packing seals, it'll leak. When the dripping was active, I did notice a slight vibration but only during docking...idle rpms. As time progressed, I ended up with a rebuilt trans, new prop shaft and dripless seals. Turns out there was corrosion on the shaft and it was bent to a slight degree.

I don't know what to expect from dripless but from what I understand, they're a little more forgiving.
It seems to me, you may want to consider hulling and pulling the shafts for inspection as I don't think there should be that much activity you going through.

Just my two cents of experience. I may deserve change...

[Viper]

Source of the post....but I'm pretty sure now that the water is entering from the prop end of the shaft......

Don't know what you mean here. Are you now saying that the water is coming from the front of the unit between the shaft and the seal?

Source of the post ....I don't understand how the housing is supposed to help keep water out if it just pushes up against something else to seal on the back end.....

That's not how it seals, that's why the gap doesn't matter. At that location, the seal is simply made by tightening the hose onto the housing that's inside the hose not at the end edge of the hose. The clamp is forcing the hose down onto the housing preventing water from getting through.

I'm still a little iffy on whether you are positively sure of where the water is coming from. From your previous description, the water is not coming out of the front of the assembly where the shaft exists it but from around the hose, is this correct?

Not uncommon for dripless logs to be overlooked in an impact repair which is a no no because they are not bullet proof. They're more fragile than a traditional packing log IMO.

[crquisto]

Ok, I'm hoping it's fixed. After tightening the clamps I had almost not leak, so yesterday I just bought new clamps and replaced the ones on the leaking end. I hung around for a couple of hours on other projects and checked it out. It was bone dry. I'll look at it again and run it today to see if the repair is final. Couldn't see or feel any damage to either the hose or the pipe and the only leak was definitely coming through the clamps around the hose. Thanks everyone. Cautiously saying $$$ saved by CYO.

[crquisto]

Well, I wasn't able to run the boat until the other day. No leaks, but now I'm hearing a rubbing or wierd grinding noise from the port side whenever I'm in gear and over 2600 rpm. I only tried it at this rpm in forward. I had the diver inspect when he scraped the bottom but he found nothing unusual. Since this is a different issue from the water leak that started this thread I'll start a new one for "Noise above 2600 rpm"