slow leak on F40/40

[Laisve]

I completely emptied the bilge while changing the deep bilge pump and float switch, and noticed a very slow leak in the deepest part of the bilge - the one atop the keel, sort of under the engine, to the right of the raw water engine intake pump. Is this normal, and could it be coming from a leaking shaft seal? Or something else? The keel bolts look solid, not rusted.
Thanks for any suggestions!

[Ereiss]

It could be the shaft seal but on my F38, which had such a leak, the water would collect in the sump under the engine. Don't know if the 40/40 has the same set up. I did find that I could only see the leaking (in my case) Tides shaft seal when it was under load at a higher RPM. Hope this helps.

[GeoffSchultz]

My 40/40 doesn't leak, but there's always water in it as it's deep and the water in the bilge pump hoses flow back into the bilge once it's done running. It can also take a long time for water to make its way into the bilge from other locations. I would carefully watch the shaft seal to see if it might be the source. Water also comes down the mast when it rains and makes its way there. How much water are we talking about over how long of a period?

-- Geoff

[Laisve]

Thanks for your comments, guys.
I had emptied the bilge using the deep bilge pump (i.e., not completely dry) at night after sailing, and the following afternoon the deep bilge was full again, with a bit of water showing in the raw intake pump well. It hadn't rained much overnight.
Then I completely emptied the bilge using a shop vac. A little bit of water seeped in soon from parts unknown.

Now the replacement pump has a working float switch, so I guess I won't know next time exactly how much water had accumulated if the pump turned on. I just ordered a Blue Sea M2 bilge monitor so I can see how much pumping goes on once I install it.

[germanojohn]

I had a slow leak on my 40/40. It looks like there may be issues with some boats when they installed the shaft log. Apparently there was not enough room to properly glass in the shaft log. Repair consisted of cutting the rear stringer to allow access to the shaft. Pretty big job, but no more leaks.

John