bellows leak?

[mrxitmt]

I am slowly taking on water with oily sludge .I'm thinking bellows leak washing out gimble grease.Would you agree?? Got any idea how much it costs to have this new bellows done? i know (if you have to ask....)

[mmwjr]

Hey Rick I was just by your way yesterday and wondering how the boat was doing, guess I got my answer here.

Have you checked to see if the engine oil level is not going down? Had to ask as I recall your intake leaking 2 years ago and another member here had the same issue and his just failed again.

Bellows kits go for $300 - $500, these include all 3 bellows, water hose, lube hose, gimbal bearing, and shift cable. This is the time to replace the trim limit switch and sender which runs another $100.

Inspect the driveshaft bellows for cracks in the folds.

[Kevlar7r]

Bellows sounds likely. Check if the water flow rate is different drive down vs. Drive up. Usually a good indicator.



Here in Northern Florida, I was looking at about $1000 for a bellows job, including haul out. Not sure if you need that part.



Don't run the boat with a leaking bellows. You could force water into the drive and destroy it. I learned this lesson the hard way.

[mrxitmt]

Thanks for your input.Mike,good to hear from you . the engine is running great .we went to millers island yesterday .temp is a steady 150 oil pressure 50 60 cruising at 3200 25mph with 4 adults.a little slow getting on plane.the leak has been an ongoing thing and I thought the sludge was from the motor intrusion that happened past but I cleaned the bilge this spring.The oil level is always full (no leaks)and both pumps are not leaking.that leads me to believe it is gimble grease.The bellows looked ok but I didn't do a real thorough inspection

[Calguy]

My bilge was slowly filling with sea water a few years ago and found out it was the tiny shift cable bellows (Mercruiser) It can fail causing water to enter the bilge at a fast rate.....

[Kevlar7r]

Shift bellows wont bring in grease. The front seal of the drive is designed to keep oil in, not water out. You're taking a $2000 gamble on wrecking your drive by operating with a suspected failed bellows.

[mmwjr]

Kevlar is correct about upper drive design only have a seal with lip inward to keep lube in and not a second seal with lip outward to keep water out like the prop shaft has.

Basically $500 for material and $500 for labor if you have a mechanic do it.

Do you still keep it on the lift? If so only concern is when in use although the more corrosion the harder to remove the gimbal bearing.

Up to if you want to gamble on waiting for the end of the season.

[mrxitmt]

I definetly will not run it like that . I will probably be pulling it tomorrow.I have done this job several times in the past .I have the pullers and special tools and I know it's a pain in the butt job

[mmwjr]

This is also time to check the play in the swivel shaft to see if it needs replacement as well. If worn the steering will have slop and it will allow water to leak around its seal.

[mrxitmt]

i pulled the drive and the bellows were bone dry.so now i put it back together and degreased the hull from the front (cabin )and flushed the hull area and the transom .we will see what happens today.Tuesday I will use a endoscope camera and see if I can find out where the leak is.All the bellows look good .perhaps the oil is residual oil from when the engine filled with water.Hoping for the best...
By the way,it has never leaked enough to even cause the bilge pump to run.
Rick

[mmwjr]

Good luck and keep us posted.

Rain water?

[mrxitmt]

Had a great day at Millers island.Checked the bilge and have about an inch or two of water still oily .Tuesday I will use the camera to see if I can find the leak.

[mrxitmt]

OK I found out the exhaust y-pipe is dripping where it bolts to the gimble housing.It looks like the only way to fix this is to remove the engine.Any body ever have this problem?

[Kevlar7r]

Wow! I've suspected that, but never seen it.



One option would be to switch to the tube type exhaust bellows, that might reduce it while sitting in the water. Might not though.



I guess conceivably you could pull the exhaust off and change the seal with the engine in, but you would need a midget contortionist. I have managed to get a wrench on the bolts and torque them before, with the engine in. 1/2 12 point socket if I remember right. You could try that, but it may not solve your problem.



If you have to remove that pipe, you will definitely need to have the boat out of the water.

[mmwjr]

I have heard of this on other forums.

Having a 2400 myself I see no way to get in there without engine removal.

Bummer

[Kevlar7r]

Mike, I should have qualified my comment with that my experience was with a totally different boat, I don't know what the access is like on the particular model.

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by Kevlar7r

Mike, I should have qualified my comment with that my experience was with a totally different boat, I don't know what the access is like on the particular model.

Understood, inside transom access sucks.

[Kevlar7r]

Mine's pretty easy to get to right now. My transoms are in a box on a pallet.

[mrxitmt]

I will live with it for the rest of the season.My brother has a high ceiling garage with a block and fall on an I beam.pulling the engine is easy with the proper equipment.plus , with the engine out I can clean and tidy everything else up.

[mmwjr]

Sounds like a plan.