98 SN Drive shaft packing

Finally got the boat in the water today after all the work I did on it this spring. One of the items was the gland packing for the drive shaft. I used 1/4" Gore, and the shaft is 1 inch. I read about this a lot and measured the old flax packing and the Gland nut and thought I should use 1/4".
While running today the Gland got quite warm after a couple minute run at 30MPH. I kept playing with it trying to get it to drip like my old 84 did. I liked to run that one at about 6-8 drips per minute. No mater what I did I can only get water to drip from the gland if the locking nut is not tight. I backed off the nut and only tightened it until I could feel it was contacting the packing by hand. set the locking nut and still it gets hot when running, and no dripping. It is not to hot to touch, but I have not run the boat for that long.
Reading this post
linkhttp://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=21287&KW=Gore&PID=567402&title=shaft-packing#567402
It sounds like it is impossible to tell.
SkiDim states that 3/16" packing was used on SN's till 2001 or 2002???
Can I replace the packing without removing the drive shaft again???
Thanks for the help.

Martin,
I have found at times once the packing is overtightened, it will not loosen up Then , the solution is a re pack. Start with tightening the gland by hand (no wrenches) then tighten in small increments like 1/16 of a turn.

Regarding packing, I have always sourced mine from McMaster.

100% GFO packing

This is W. L. Gore packing at a reasonable cost.

Chris,
As it's been mentioned, it's best to measure what size is needed.

Jonny Quest wrote: bfootr wrote: HI - I'm getting ready to pack the shaft of my 89 SN. Did you end up using the 3/16" or 1/4" size? Thanks. It is likely that you need 3/16" packing. CC / Nautique did not go to the 1/4" packing until sometime after the year 2001 or 2002. JQ

TRBenj wrote: ^^dangerous assumption right there. Have seen little consistency on packing sizes. Best to measure the gland or old packing, or order both sizes if unsure.

Ordered both sizes from ebay, under $20 each for 24" length including shipping. Pete's suggestion of McMaster-Carr is indeed cheap, if I needed five feet.

If anyone else in New England needs packing I'll have some extra of both sizes.

Today I removed the GFO packing from the stuffing box and installed some 3/16" Flax type cause that is what I could get fast. Put in three layers and spent some time tightening and testing and got it to about 6 to 10 drips per minute after several runs. At no time did the stuffing box get even warm when running for 2-3 minutes at 35MPH.
Much happier with this result than previous. My plan is to run this for a while this summer and maybe try some 3/16 GFO in the future.
I also measured things with a Micrometer after I removed the GFO packing. this is why I originally ordered 1/4" GFO.

Mpost wrote: . I received some information from someone on PN that was also having a heating issue with GFO in a newer (2006) .He contacted NP about the packing and parts he installed and was told the following. "They stand by the GoreTex and their tech person said what I am experiencing can be rather common. He mentioned that the GoreTex will run hotter, and often is too hot to touch. He insisted this does not harm the shaft."

I'm really not understanding why they feel the GFO runs hotter I've used it on several shaft glands and even LOTS more on pump stuffing boxes through the years. As I mentioned, I feel the problem is overtightening. It's takes very little pressure to expand the GFO for a very good seal.