For those familiar with the Sportstar..

[99mastercraft]

I have a 1999 Mastercraft Sportstar and I am probably going to be selling it to my brother in law pretty soon… it does have the drip less drive shaft.

i noticed last summer I had to empty the bilge more than normal… is there any particular areas I should look at for where water could be coming in? I thought if it was dripless there was no rope seal?

also, does anyone have a picture of where to grease the rudder? I read some where there is a fitting, but I’ve looked and not been able to locate anything.

Any help is appreciated

[waterlogged882]

I have a 1999 Mastercraft Sportstar and I am probably going to be selling it to my brother in law pretty soon… it does have the drip less drive shaft.

i noticed last summer I had to empty the bilge more than normal… is there any particular areas I should look at for where water could be coming in? I thought if it was dripless there was no rope seal?

also, does anyone have a picture of where to grease the rudder? I read some where there is a fitting, but I’ve looked and not been able to locate anything.

Any help is appreciated

The shaft seal is dripless only if you have installed a designated dripless seal system or the boat was manufactured with a dripless system. Otherwise you will have a gland seal with packing. Hard to say without a photo.

There are multiple places water can enter: Leaking rudder seals, shaft seal, exhaust muffler(s) with a hole, raw water pump seal, circulating pump, hose (clamp) connection, around the rub rail, exhaust port(s), transmission cooler, or platform lag bolt(s) if it is fastened with that configuration.

Not all rudder shaft bodies have a grease zerk. If it does, the zerk will be on the forward side of the rudder shaft body.

.

[99mastercraft]

thank you for the reply.. I have attached some photos, not sure if it helps. That shaft.. is that going to the rudder?

[waterlogged882]

Confirm that you have a dripless shaft seal. That photo is helpful.

The rudder port is what holds the rudder in place. That is located in the rear of the boat...at the end of the steering cable. The drive shaft is not affixed to the rudder. To locate the rudder port where the rudder seal is located, go to the back of your boat (outside) and find the steering rudder. It goes straight up into the boat. The seal is inside of that port. You can then locate the rudder port on the inside relative to the location of what you found on the outside.

The other places I mentioned previously, that is an overall list. Some more likely than others.

That blue dripless shaft seal also has a seal inside of it that can go south.

Check the rear of the raw water pump for a leaking seal, another seal inside the pump. It will leak a little out the back as the bearings go bad, the seal will wallow out of place. That has to be checked under operation on the water. It is on the front of the engine.

Also observe the dripless seal while under operation. It will drain on the outside, so that is OK. The inside is what you want to observe.

The mufflers can develop a leak, typically on the underside where they can rub on the hull. Again, observation while under operation.

The rub rail is less likely.

The circulation pump is located on the front of the engine. It will drip a little before going out, then it dumps all out on a one-time failure. Not so much a likely suspect.

The shaft goes through the hull and that is what the propeller is attached to. The rudder is beyond the propeller.

.

[bcd]

Put your plug in and fill the bilge with water with the boat on the trailer and see if it leaks out somewhere.

[tjrowbot]

As WL said, the mufflers. I had a 2000 that had both mufflers cracking where the exhaust hose met them. I fixed with a fiberglass repair kit and no more excess water in the bilge.