Is that a whole in your Transom? The obvious point is you have a gap somewhere. You need to isolate to that point to deterine if its just a seal or if its more than that. Once you have isolated the entry point you can patch. Do a couple test drills to make sure transom is still sound and reseal holes with 5200. Picture isn't very clear to me. Not sure what I am looking at other than the hydraulic lines for tilt and trim
It looks to me like it's coming from above the seal in the gimbal housing since its pouring out the keyhole. I would be looking at the bottom of the wye pipe where it bolts to the gimbal housing, or the u-joint bellows.
I'm betting your helmet/y pipe need to be replaced. This is common on older IO's as I had 2 of them that did the exact same thing. Remove your y pipe and inspect both pieces. The easiest way to check is to remove one of the bellows and pour water down y pipe and see if it leaks. You can do this in your driveway.
That's a pretty good flow of water coming in... if your transom is compromised, it must be pretty bad. In the exterior picture (in post #5 above), is that some sort of sealant smeared around the gimbal housing? That often can be a sign there are transom problems that someone tried to "fix."
If you're lucky, your leak might just be the bellows or the Y-pipe. Might not be a bad idea to check out the integrity of your transom, though...
Don't rule out the bellows just cause they look good.. It could be a hole you can't see in the small shift cable bellow. That's what mine was and it was leaking worse than what you have, and also from the same area.
I don't know if I mentioned that the motor wasn't on. The boat was still on the trailer. I just backed it in the lake. I unstrapped the transom area so it could float. So could it still be the y pipe even though the engine was not running? How hard is it to remobe the y pipe?Yea I saw all that sealant around the transom when I first bought the boat but at that time I didn't even know wht a transom was..haha. I'm taking it to a local boat guy here in houston. He is charging me $190 for the diagnosis. He said he thinks it's the bellows and that is goin to cost $600 to repair. Does that sound about right?
Pull the outdrive off and check the bellows to see if there's water inside. That takes 15 minutes and a gasket kit. What motor and year is it? If bellows are not leaking then you'll have to pull the motor to repair or replace the Y pipe, by the looks of the corrosion and rust the motor has some age on it and the bottom of the Y pipe is probably rotted out.
Pull the outdrive off and check the bellows to see if there's water inside. That takes 15 minutes and a gasket kit. What motor and year is it? If bellows are not leaking then you'll have to pull the motor to repair or replace the Y pipe, by the looks of the corrosion and rust the motor has some age on it and the bottom of the Y pipe is probably rotted out.
It's a 1990 regal valanti 225sc with a 5.7 mercruiser. Yea I think i'ma pull the outdrive in the morning. The motor was rebuilt in 2015 by the previous owner. I'm starting to lean more toward y pipe because when I put the muffs on in the driveway it still leaks but just not as much. Is it hard to pull the motor?
It's a 1990 regal valanti 225sc with a 5.7 mercruiser. Yea I think i'ma pull the outdrive in the morning. The motor was rebuilt in 2015 by the previous owner. I'm starting to lean more toward y pipe because when I put the muffs on in the driveway it still leaks but just not as much. Is it hard to pull the motor?
Not if you have the tools and something overhead to do the lifting, you don't have to pull the motor all the way out of the boat. Disconnect fuel line, wires to the forward harness, battery, motor mounts, then lift and move the motor forward enough to be able to get to the transom assembly and remove the Y pipe. You'll need to recheck the motor alignment once you have the motor returned to it's position.
There are a ton of videos and tutorials out there.
Update:
Took it to the boat mechanic in houston. Bellows look good. No rust. No holes. He said next he needs to remove the motor $690 Check the transom plate housing $1300 if needs to be replaced. If it's not the trAnson plate he will check the y pipe $400 plus anothe $400 to reinstall the motor.
Update:
Took it to the boat mechanic in houston. Bellows look good. No rust. No holes. He said next he needs to remove the motor $690 Check the transom plate housing $1300 if needs to be replaced. If it's not the trAnson plate he will check the y pipe $400 plus anothe $400 to reinstall the motor.
I have no idea why it would cost so much but I do all my own boat work. With only few hand tools and never having worked on a Mercruiser IO I had my motor pulled in a couple hours just being a novice. To get at the Y pipe you don't even have to take the motor all the way out, you can just hoist it up and push the boat back a couple feet.
If the transom seal is leaking then you have a way bigger issue. Normally it's because the transom wood has been compromised by rot from a water leak or being stored uncovered and full of water since most boats sit in the driveway considerably longer than in the water.
Gasp is right!!! I do my own work as well. I built a gantry out of $100.00 in Lowes lumber, $30.00 in removable hardware, and $40.00 chainfall from HF.
I can construct it whenever necessary, and tear it down when the wife complains.
