Lip seal replacement on V Drive shafts 350/370 Sundancer

[Pilot]

Hi all:

I was wondering if anyones done this on a 350/370 2008 or later with twin VDrives and 8'1's.
It looks like I may have to remove the engines to get at the shaft seals and do the replacement. Has anyone had experience with this procedure on this model or similar?

 

[Pilot]

No, you don't need to pull engine, but rather unbolt shafts from tranny and slide the drive shafts down. The area to work in is almost impossible but it is do-able. It takes about 6 hours per engine and is best done by a professional due to the complexity of re-aligning the shafts and ensuring everything is pulled using the proper tools and equipment. The seal kits are @$500 each, the extra seals to replace the 15 year old spares are $60 each. Another great Searay design.

 

[Pilot]

No, you don't need to pull engine, but rather unbolt shafts from tranny and slide the drive shafts down. The area to work in is almost impossible but it is do-able. It takes about 6 hours per engine and is best done by a professional due to the complexity of re-aligning the shafts and ensuring everything is pulled using the proper tools and equipment. The seal kits are @$500 each, the extra seals to replace the 15 year old spares are $60 each. Another great Searay design.

Had a 2 man crew just finish this up. These guys are master Mercruiser/Searay mechanics so, they knew what they were doing. Also replaced the Cutlass bearings. This was quite a job, remove props, shafts, saw off the old bearings, re-align engines as over time they had shifted by @ 1/4 inch. All together @ 12 man hours. No way could I have done this and certainly not correctly. I would recommend with this model boat that you bring in the professionals and let them do this. Further, the space to work in under the engines was absolutely minuscule, not sure how they accomplished this but, happy to be fixed. It was leaking quite a lot of water.

 

[techmitch]

Glad you got her fixed but keep in mind, shaft alignment should be checked and re-adjusted after the boat has been back in the water for a week or two.

 

[Golfman25]

Had a 2 man crew just finish this up. These guys are master Mercruiser/Searay mechanics so, they knew what they were doing. Also replaced the Cutlass bearings. This was quite a job, remove props, shafts, saw off the old bearings, re-align engines as over time they had shifted by @ 1/4 inch. All together @ 12 man hours. No way could I have done this and certainly not correctly. I would recommend with this model boat that you bring in the professionals and let them do this. Further, the space to work in under the engines was absolutely minuscule, not sure how they accomplished this but, happy to be fixed. It was leaking quite a lot of water.

Not too shabby. The fact that they know what they are doing and move it right along in a day is awesome and worth the price.