SD50 saildrive seals

[j24sailor]

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas about inspecting and changing the seals on a SD50 saildrive. There is very little information in the manuals and I don't know how often to do it or what to look for. I do inspect visually the inside seal monthly but is that good enough. I know there is an alarm if there is moisture between the outside seal and the inside one, but if the inside one fails first and then the outside one I no longer have a boat. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

James

[jy51]

I’m not an expert on these matters, but have changed the through hull seal, cone clutch and the shaft oil seals on a SD50.  

I believe they recommend changing the seal every 6 to 10 years, in reality most people don’t bother, they just regularly check for wear or ingress of water.

if you do decide to change the hull seal it is worth at the same time checking out the cone clutch which in most cases seems to last for about 500 hrs before starting to play up.  And it is a good idea to change both the lower prop shaft oil seal and the upper drive shaft seal, they are inexpensive items and easy to do with the drive unit out.