Carbon Seal - Opinions Please

[Biffitis]

After reading several posts about cavitation I had a closer look at my carbon seal. To me, it looks like it's sitting crooked and wearing unevenly. It takes very little effort to pull the seal away from the s/s shoulder on one side (where there's little to no wear) and more effort on the other side (that shows the wear). Do you think it's possible the boot was installed crooked to begin with? And, would you recommend replacing the boot even though it seems to be Ok?

 

[howie099]

I would replace it. It does look like its wearing wrong.

 

[BMANN06]

I don't think replacing the boot is necessary.

 

[Biffitis]

Update

So I pulled the drive to get a better look at the carbon seal, and looky here:



So now my question is; what would cause the ring to wear oval? Clearly the driveshaft was rubbing on it (as I suspected looking at the way it was sitting up against the s/s sleeve before removal), but how can you "adjust" where the seal sits? It can't be the driveshaft that's out of alignment, can it?

 

[LouDoo]

The first thing I would check is the drive shaft. Is it warped?

Lou

 

[Biffitis]

The first thing I would check is the drive shaft. Is it warped?

Lou

Ding ding ding - Give the man a cigar. Yes, the driveshaft is indeed bent... :banghead:
Perhaps this explains why there's a Skat-Trak impeller on an otherwise stock boat. Maybe someone sucked up something that damaged the impeller, but never checked the shaft for damage?

The "boot-impeller" (#2) was nearly completely gone, but there's no sign of the "ring" (#42) that the parts catalog shows. Is the ring not used with a Skat-Trak impeller?

http://parts.perryperformancegroup.com/pages/OemParts?aribrand=BRP_SEA#/Sea-Doo/Challenger%2c_5603%2f%2f5606%2c_1997/05-_Propulsion_System/5830/9731