boat rudder port questions

[Krw1225]

So I decided to take on this job in between vacations to try and eliminate my rudder hum. I tried all of the ideas from this and other threads, and the only thing that worked was HEAT and patience - using a hairdryer to heat up the mount under the boat and eventually working a putty knife in between the hull and flange. Eventually it did come out.

I used the slide hammer idea, and even a sledge hammer but it didn't budge at all until I heated it up. There was a small bit of gel coat that didn't release and came off with the flange, but it will be hidden when I put it back together and protected with the silicone.

Did you send the rudder port in to OJ? Eric wouldn’t sell me the rudder bushing and seals without sending to them. I shot my port with more grease and seems to have helped as a stop-gap until the fall...

[Proedge]

Did you try ordering it from MCparts? I included the link in my previous post. It's such a pain having to remove the entire rudder port just to replace the sleeve.

[BAdair]

So those of you that have had your port rebuild or replaced, any tips on applying the adhesive when re-assembling? Just wondering what everyone has done especially around the 4 bolt holes.

[zsqure]

AROUND EVERYTHING, IN EACH OF THE BOLT HOLES. You don't want to do it again. Had my son put his finger over the bolt holes so the goop would not get pushed out topside. You can coat the raw surfaces of the ports thru-hull hole a day before to seal up the materials there. From my experience, silicone does not stick to silicone.

[BAdair]

Great. Thanks.

Also, it looks like the 5200 was used on the under side of the hull and black rtv was used where the plate bolts from the inside. Does that sound right?

[BAdair]

Did you send the rudder port in to OJ? Eric wouldn’t sell me the rudder bushing and seals without sending to them. I shot my port with more grease and seems to have helped as a stop-gap until the fall...

I did. For $75 it's hard to beat. During my initial frustration I looked at replacing just the bushing but the price I saw online was over $100 for just the part so I didn't even consider it.

The removal wasn't that bad, had I just used the hair dryer from the start.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[Krw1225]

I did. For $75 it's hard to beat. During my initial frustration I looked at replacing just the bushing but the price I saw online was over $100 for just the part so I didn't even consider it.

The removal wasn't that bad, had I just used the hair dryer from the start.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

Good points! Thanks!

[BAdair]

When reassembling, if you pre-grease the sleeve before you put the rudder in it will same you some time and clean-up. I did not do this step and when I went to pump the assembly full of grease, there was a lot of leaking around the grease zerk. I had to go very slow and do a lot of rudder turning in the process. Kind of a pain when doing it as a 1-man job.

The zerk on my assembly would not tighten completely so you might want to check that before installing also. We need our boat this weekend so I didn't have the luxury of further diagnosis. It had to go in so the adhesive could cure in time.

Overall, this is not a project that anyone with mild handyman skills should be afraid of. Just take your time and think through each step.