SHAFT SEAL

[foster]

Hello,

I was reading the (very good and active) forum of BENETEAU 423 owners, they seem to have some problems withe the shaft seal that needs to be fixed every 2 or 3 years. Does any one know if this applies to the B40 or 43 ?

Denis

[Mike Brown]

According to the service manager I deal with no. Seems as though they started using a nylon hose barb on the newer boats. Just the same it may be worthwhile to inspect your's and be sure it's not the bronze type.

[foster]

hello Mike,

I will check this at the end of the month.

Denis

[Mike Brown]

Denis, let me know how you make.
Mike

[David]

Hi Denis all you need to do is to grease it once a year assuming it’s the Volvo one, with 1 cubic centimetre of Volvo grease part no 828250 (not Volvo propeller shaft grease)and burp it when put back in water. My service people say the propeller shaft grease is fine but it is quite different so I use Volvo’s recommendations. But check part no. as my manual is on the boat.
David

[Ricardo Negrini]

Yes, this has been fixed on newer shaft seals by Volvo. Another important point is to make sure the hoses are well secured (usually to the Vetus muffler), avoind going broke due to vibration. I red a tip that worked well for me. Fill a regular strow with Volvo grease, flatten the very end and insert under the rubber gland; then carefully squeeze it moving the strow around the shaft and under the rubber .... it was beter than trying to insert the grease tube ....

[foster]

Hello,

Thank you for the answers. But I don't understand something. All B43/B40 are eaquiped with Yanmar engines. Do you mean Beneteau uses Volvo shaft seals with the Yanmar motor ?

The zinc is just for winterising and is connected to an overboard 1kg Zinc. This is to preserve the propeller/shaft nut zinc. I don't know if this works.

Denis

[David]

Hi Denis
Mine is a French boat and the seal is made by Volvo. It looks like yours.
I received a two page Volvo installation sheet with my documentation.
I think it said it should be replaced after, was it 5 or 10 years (I can’t remember).
As the seal is not part of the engine they could have used any brand.

Also I didn’t receive the orange cup in your photo, I know it is used to install the seal, but does anyone know if it has any other use, ie should I ask for one?
Regards David

[Ricardo Negrini]

I did same using a 1/2Kg zinc attached to the gear drive, I hope zinc on propeler will last a bit longer too. Yanmar is a good diesel engine but they don't manufacture accessories. Even the Saildrive was introduced only recently. By other hand, Vovlo has a huge log on manufacturing marine systems (funny, but in general lower HP models are manufactured by Perkins and Volvo just marinize them). The shaft seal is Volvo on all Benes around the world.