Leak at rudder housing

[NCDAD]

2011 SAN 230

I am getting water leaking into the bilge from underneath the plate on the inside of the boat at the rate of 2 qts every 20 minutes or so. I have pulled the rudder, housing/tube from the outside/bottom of the boat and the plate on the inside of the boat. After removing the large nut and jam nut (which were only hand tight) from the housing, I noticed that there wasn’t any packing around the rudder shaft. Is this normal? Should there be packing in the large nut that is held in by the jam nut? Is it just a tight fit between the rudder shaft and the housing with grease that makes the water tight seal? It is not leaking through the shaft. How should the two be reassembled?

Thanks for helping
SWH in NC

[NautiqueJeff]

Definitely should be packing material in there. Without it, it is sure to leak.

[NCDAD]

Thank you NautiqueJeff.

[mpost]

From your description you pulled the housing from under the boat and the plate with the 4 bolts on the inside? If so what was between the hull and the housing under the boat? Normally i have heard these are held and sealed using a heavy-duty marine adhesive sealant like 3M Marine Adhesive Sealant 4200 or 5200.
Is this boat new to you? Sounds like someone has been here before and skipped some steps.

[NCDAD]

MPOST,
I bought the boat a year ago. You are correct with the parts I pulled. When I removed the 4 bolts holding the housing, it nearly fell into my hands. The adhesive was old and brittle. I suspect it was the original adhesive. I inspected the large nut and found that there is in fact packing in there. I have cleaned all of the surfaces of the old adhesive and will be resealing and reinstalling everything this week. Thanks for your help. SWH