[C320-list] GFO Packing Gland Tightness Clarification: 1994

[Clay Carter]

As a new 320 owner I have just replaced the packing gland for the first time in my 1995 320.  My neighbor with another 1994 320 had replaced his with 1/4"  "Equalseal Gore GFO" and has zero water dripping from his.  This is attractive due to my very shallow bilge in this year--I like dry bilge.  The dilemma I am facing is how tight should this be?  Before replacing this gland, I went back and forth from no water to too much water and could never dial it in so I decided to remove the old and just start from new.  With this new GFO product, I have tightened it enough so there is no water dripping, but wonder if it might be too tight.  I have tested it at my slip with transmission in gear with moderate RPM's, still no water dripping but there is some heat when you touch the shaft and glad.  Also getting a little black "goo" (not sure what the correct term is here folks) which has leaked out and sprayed a little around the fiberglass bottom.  Should there be some heat if this thing is stopping the water, or should there be no heat due to cooling from water and perhaps I have it too tight?  Maybe the heat is causing this "goo" to ooze out of the gland due to having tightened it too much?  How do you tell how tight to go with GFO?
Thank you for any input--learning so much from this group.  :)
Clay CarterWe'll Sea--Hull 225Long Beach, CA 





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