exaust bellow and wiring questions

I have a 76 mark twain v-sonic 180v, I started it up in the drive way for the first time this year and found that the exhaust bellow was cracked. I don't know if it was like this last year or not. what kind of damage could this do? how critical is this?
My next question is about my tilt trim gauge. Its not working and never has since I owned the boat. I have got really good at guessing but it would be nice to have it working. what does the guage look at for determining its measurement? is there a sensor somewhere?
last but not least there is a wiring nightmare under the dash. the toggle switches are hooked up to the wrong things and a few are dead. do these connect power or ground? like to the blower motor it is grounded unless I turn off the switch. the blower is dead because it was filled with sticks and I think it burned the motor up. How critical is it to have these working?
Thanks for all the help.
Kurt.

Re: exaust bellow and wiring questions

started tracing wires and found one broke right over the engine by the breaker. if I ground it the gauge moves. is the sender located at the transom above where the motor meets? sorry I don't know all the terminology yet. there are 4 wires that come out there and they are all disconnected and really bad shape. if these are the wires they will not be hooked back up because of their condition. I am sure they would burst into flames. I also fixed all my switches and found that they were getting power from the wrong source. long story but it took me a hour just to find a blown fuse by the battery so disregard the questions pertaining to that.

Re: exaust bellow and wiring questions

maybe i missed it but what engine and outdrive are you working on, Usually a cracked or torn exhaust bellows is no big deal as i replaced my mercruiser exhaust bellows with a tube style which only connects to boat side and not on the outdrive itself.
You might want to check out the sticky section at the top of the forum to download the correct manual for your engine and outdrive. Make sure you are using Internet explorer or it wont work to download it. Those manuals will have everything you will need to know and how to repair.

Good Luck

Re: exaust bellow and wiring questions

cool, I will look into the manual here, I dont know if I will get that bellow this week or not but i might take it out this weekend if you dont think it will hurt having it cracked.

Re: exaust bellow and wiring questions

Your trim gauge and trim limit sender is on the gimbal (one on each side). They are round and have wires that go into the transom. If those wires are corroded you may have to leave it like it is because it?s not easy to fix.
The exhaust bellow being cracked is not a big deal and won?t cause damage. You can fix that later.
The blowers not working is a huge deal. You are supposed to run these for four to five minutes before starting up the engine. You are also supposed to run them when traveling at low speed. They bring in clean air and take out combustible fumes. Failure to run these blowers can result in an explosion.

Re: exaust bellow and wiring questions

wow, I will have to check that blower out a little more then. thanks for the info. Is there any place to buy replacement blowers? Do they blow in or out?

Re: exaust bellow and wiring questions

fixed the blower yesterday it was a little noisy so I turned it on and doused it with wd-40 and it quieted right up. all that was wrong was where the wire goes to the fuse under the dash was all dirty and corroded. another thing fixed I was told that it is no big deal if the exhaust bellow is not on so I might just hold off on that. thanks for the help.

Re: exaust bellow and wiring questions

Cracked exhaust bellows and no bellows at all is 2 different things. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but water can and will enter the engine when the boat comes to a stop without the exhaust bellows in place. If it's cracked but in place, it will be ok for the time being.