Carbon seal question 97 Challenger

[squad1]

1997 Challenger single 787

I have done a bunch of work to my new-to-me 97 Challenger. It is running very well so far this season.

I have been noting water in the bilge that is coming from the carbon seal area, enough that it can be pumped after an hour or two at the dock. The history of the boat is sketchy, service-wise so I'm not sure if things I see are installed correctly. The mating of the top hat and seal appear to be good, but the boot is fairly easy to pull off the top hat. My drive shaft has 3 notches for the o-ring. When I looked at it, it was on the 2nd notch. I am able to push the top hat further back, compressing the boot, just enough to get the o-ring into the 3rd notch. This makes the boot very snug. Is this the correct placement or at least acceptable?
I have a seal kit ordered, but with the holiday, it won't be here for a week.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[nisjeep]

Put a zip tie behind the boot around the boat casting. This will give you enough pressure on the carbon seal to last the week.

 

[squad1]

I've seen that tip in a few other threads when I was searching. Is that more so when the drive shaft only has one notch, or is maxed? I was able to compress the boot more than it had been and slid the top hat keeper o-ring into the third one. I just want to make sure I won't be damaging anything if the boot is compressed as much as I can by hand, or if that is the way it is supposed to be..
Thanks again.