stuffing box on 2008 ranger 25

[jimbeam]

First time with a drip stuffing box on the shaft. I've always had pss shaft seals on my sailboats. So how much dripping should I tighten the nut for? I actually thought the 25 came with a dripless seal but obviously not. I might change it over to a shaft seal next year.
2nd note, the lower nut on the alternator. Can't loosen it. tried everything. I just want to swing it out of the way to get at the impeller. I even thought of heating it up with a small blowtorch but haven't tried that yet.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jim

 

[knotflying]

Use a very slight turn and tighten as required. I do it at about an 1/8 of a turn at a time. When shaft is turning you should get a drip every 20 seconds.

 

[Chimo]

The procedure from Andrew calls for 1-3 drips/minute in neutral. I’ve found that after adjustment a quick 3 second run in gear against the mooring lines is good to set the packing then back into neutral before timing the drips. I use the stopwatch on my iPhone.