Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

utfisherman

Seaman
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
58
I have a 1976 25 ft sea ray with a pre alpha mercruiser I bought it after sitting 10 years. I replaced the bellows and shift cable. When I put it in the water I am taking ona lot of water from the ujoint bellows area. From what I can see it?s coming from the ujoint bellows area but is hard to see. Is there anywhere else the water could be coming from besides the bellows? It does not take on water when running on muffs.
Thank you
:facepalm:
 

nikon

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 12, 2011
Messages
193
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

It could take on water from a million places......Did you use adhesive on the bellows? Dunno if your supposed to on the pre alphas or not....
 

utfisherman

Seaman
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
58
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

I did put sealer on the bellows. they seem tight where they are.
thank you
 

thumpar

Admiral
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
6,138
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

Put water in the bilge when it is on the trailer and see where it comes out.
 

utfisherman

Seaman
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
58
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

I used clear silicone as a sealer is that bad ?
 

90stingray

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Oct 26, 2010
Messages
1,162
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

This sounds like a rotted transom. Just back it in the water leave it on the trailer. Then get back there and see where its coming from. Use a flashlight and mirror to help you look around. Goodluck.
 

zx9rstv

Seaman
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
54
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

Another possibility is the shift cable bellows. If this isn't right or tight it can sink a boat fast.
 
Joined
Mar 27, 2010
Messages
3,008
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

Take a look at the photo by Fishermark attached:

You can see right into the bellows? How bout that large gasket that's between the drive and bellhousing? If water leaks by it guess where it is going?
 

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utfisherman

Seaman
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
58
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

are you talking about the gasket you can see in the pohot?I was wondering about that one I had some problems getting the out drive on when ii changed the bellows
 

300sflyer

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
610
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

I used clear silicone as a sealer is that bad ?

Yes, its bad. You should be using bellows adhesive. It appears that you are very inexperienced working on boats. My suggestion would be to take it to a shop and let an expert do the work for you.
 

Raystownboater

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
507
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

It appears that you are very inexperienced working on boats. My suggestion would be to take it to a shop and let an expert do the work for you.

If he were experienced, he wouldnt need to post in the forums. He has replaced the bellows and shift cables already which tells me he has the basic skills. Why would you suggest he let an expert do it? I thought the whole purpose of this forum was to provide help and advice to those of us that have the desire to be able to work on our own boats without the need to pay an "expert" to do our repairs.
 

utfisherman

Seaman
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
58
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

Thanks for the support. It doesnt bother me when people make statments like that it tells me they think they know all but they dont. He doesnt know me I spent 20 years as a heavey equipment machianic. I have rebuilt everything from V16 Cat motors to chain saws. There are more than 1 way do to do things and get the same results. remember an open mind is a shut mouth. Thanks for the help guys
 

AviatorJim

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 20, 2010
Messages
111
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

I have to concur on the bellows adhesive. Although I use a contact cement. The silicon RTV turns into a lubricant after it has been in the water a while. The bellows is hard to see when you are putting those clamps on (especially the aft), and it is possible to overtighten and pull the seal down. You can check by pulling the drive and running your hand along the seal.

I'm doing a transom bellows reseal job myself this week. Just got it apart today, and odered the parts from iboats here.
--Jim
 

300sflyer

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
610
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

Why would you suggest he let an expert do it? I thought the whole purpose of this forum was to provide help and advice to those of us that have the desire to be able to work on our own boats without the need to pay an "expert" to do our repairs.

Your right, I don't know his qualifications, or his skill levels, nor do you know mine. I stated what I said because a complete bellows failure due to a faulty installation can indeed sink his boat in a very short time period, and put himself and his passengers in serious danger, not to mention the loss of the boat. This was my concern...

If he wants to continue working on it himself, he should have a Merc OEM service manual, which will help him through the process. Having one before he started, would have been the way to go.

http://search.4shared.com/q/1/mercruiser service manual
 

hnt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Dec 31, 2010
Messages
104
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

Take a careful look at the transom plate itself. I had an old Chris Craft with an I/O that had severe corrosion from electrolosis that ate right through the transom plate. This was probably caused by stray electrical current from a faulty shore power connection at the marina of the previous owner.
 

brhodes

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
102
Re: Help my boat is sinking. It is taking on water

So to help rule out the million other things that can cause water to leak into a boat, did you put it in the water before the bellows change? Was it leaking water as heavily then?

Assuming it is the bellows/change in bellows, my first guess would be the large/thick rubber ring referred to above. You should have used bellows adhesive, not silicone, but if you had the bellows tight it wouldn't let that much water in regardless of the adhesive used. Pull the outdrive and check that rubber ring. Cost you a few bucks in gaskets, doesn't take too long. Once you've satisfied yourself it's not related to that, move on to the other stuff.

Forget the critics above regardless of anybody's qualifications, as though they've never made a mistake. I would however get the service manuals available, check sticky above if you haven't already. Just my 0.02, for the record I'm unqualified to do almost everything.
 
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