Sail Drive Seals Replacement

[phild]

Anyone have any experience with replacing the seals on their sail drives? Frequency? Root Cause? Tell tale signs of the need to replace? How difficult? Is a mechanic required? How costly?

Thanks in advance any input would be appreciated!

[SecondWind]

Second Wind had seals replaced in 2001, after our purchase. The indicator was water in the oil within the drives (Cloudy oil). We had a mechanic replace them, since we were having other work done. We just had them serviced in June 2006, and again had a mechanic do the work, since other work was being done. The oil had no water in it this time and the seals were not replaced. (Both times we were hauled for service, not for winter storage, and were not allowed to work on them ourselves). Anyone with a resonable mechanical background should be able to replace them. If you cannot find a Yanmar SD-20 drive manual, check with VOLVO. They are Volvo drives and props. The cost 5 1/2 years ago in Annapolis was ~$300.00 per drive, not including haulout. Causes can be multiple: They usually just wear out over a period of years; they can dry out over time but a common cause is monofilament fishing line wrapped around the shaft, which eats its way into the seal.

[Algoma]

I replaced the seals myself and it is an easy DIY job. I think we had about 2000 hrs on the engines at that point. When ordering parts you need 2 seals per saildrive plus an O-ring. Take careful note of which way round the old seals were installed as one seal stops oil leaking out and the other stops seawater coming in.