Mercruiser Bellows inspection

[Jez4]

I just purchased a 1997 Chaparral 2130 SS with a 5.7L Alpha One Mercruiser that was was recently serviced by the previous owner. I am new to I/O ownership and was wondering how to tell if the bellows are in good shape and how often they should be checked? Is it normally part of having the boat serviced?

 

[tpenfield]

:welcome:

'Serviced' can mean a lot of things. So, who is to say what may be done or checked when a boat/engine is 'serviced'. For all we know it may be angel dust that get sprinkled on the engine to make it all better.


Anyway, you can visually inspect the bellows for cracks, or wear marks on the ridges. You may want to raise the outdrive a bit to get a good look. The exhaust bellows is the least important. Of great importance is the condition of the u-joint bellows (largest) and the shift cable bellows (smallest), Make sure there is a clamp on the skinny end of the shift cable bellows.

 

[Jez4]

Thx , Ted. Just wasn't sure what to look for or where. I assume that if there was a leak, I'd know it pretty quick!

 

[MarkSee]

Shift cable bellow tear will leak into the bilge right away where the u-joint bellow may just accumulate some water that you may not find until the outdrive is removed as part of your annual maintenance servicing.

Here's a link to the Mercury manual that has all kinds of good info along with the sticky section here on the site.

http://boatinfo.no/lib/mercruiser/manuals/mercruiser14.html#/0

Mark