BOAT DOWN! Please help..

[freeheel4life]

Water lubed seals will last longer. Seals that depend on lake/sea water for lube will wear out quicker in my experience.

If you havent already done it, pull the lower allen set screw all the way out of the collar and use the outer set screws on the shaft. When you look the bottom of the allens that ride on the shaft get deformed and mushroom out a bit where they "grab" the prop shaft and thats what makes the collar slide up the shaft and start leaking. Re-installing them on the used up end will cause the collar to slide up the shaft again eventually. You can also call PSS and just get new allen set screws if you want, but I just flip flop the outer set screws and use the inners on the outside to jam the inners.
Hopefully that makes sense.

[IDBoating]

The "dry" style relies on water being up in the propshaft tunnel for lubrication. Under certain conditions (that I can't accurately describe, they "just happen") that area can go dry, leaving the seal's stainless and carbon rings rubbing dry against each other. This leads to scarring, leaks, and premature failure.

PSS's own documentation specifically says NOT to use the dry style on our type of boats and hulls. Nevertheless, some manufacturers used them for a couple of years, I presume to save a few bucks. When you call PSS, talk to them about it and gather your own information. I believe Tige themselves switched to the wet style several years ago, which itself should tell you something!

I learned this the hard way when my boat would randomly start making this absolutely horrible screeching/grinding noise when the transmission was engaged. I eventually tracked it down to the seal. All of this, including a recording of the sound, is in a thread here somewhere. I swapped to the wet seal and the sound has never recurred after ~7 more years of use. Adding the hose was simple after obtaining the proper fitting to insert in the engine's cooling hoses, and my installation process is also documented here including photos.

If you're having to work on the fitting anyway, might as well use the one recommended by the company that makes them, eh?