leaky boat....drive problem??

I have a 1980 255 Wellcraft with a I/O 350cdi/alpha 1 drive. Last year about midway through the season I noticed a slow leak coming from somewhere in the engine bay. I continued to use my boat for the rest of the year and used my bilge pump to dispose of accumulating water. The more times I took it out I noticed that it took on water more and more...about 2 gallons an hour. I also noticed that if everyone on the boat is in the cabin the leak is either very slow or theres no leak at all. Well I found the leak and its coming from the top half of the gimbel housing somewhere. I spoke to a few people and they recomended changing my rubber boots and also told me that it is a P.I.T.A. Is there anything else that I should consider before changing all the boots and finding out that it still leaks? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

P.S. The boots look like there in ok condition. When the trim is all the way up I can see some small dryrot cracks but trim up or down it still leaks.

Re: leaky boat....drive problem??

If the boot is leaking there will be a LOT of dammage to the drive,u-joints ,gimble bearing ect


Tommays

Re: leaky boat....drive problem??

There is a small diameter hole on the transom shield interior that will let water into your bilge when there is water present in the bellows...
When was the last time that the drive was off?
It should be removed at least once a year to grease the ujoints as a preventative maintenence....
If it has not been done yet, now is the time.....
If you do have water in your bellows, (ESP) over that period of time, then what Tom says is unfortunately true....
You will need to replace the ujoints, gimbal bearing, & at the very lesst have the drive diaassembled, internals checked & resealed.....
The bellows, and shift cable will most likely need to be replaced as well......
None of this is a cheap or easy fix......
You may do better with just going with a new aftermarket drive......JK