ripped exhaust bellows

What damage does a ripped exhaust bellows cause?

I brought a 1992 sea ray last year and noticed that the exhaust bellows (the larger one?) has been ripped for some time now. I?m thinking of doing the repair myself, any advise would be appreciated.

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

What brand of outdrive does it have? If it's the exhaust bellows, it probably has little holes in it anyway. A tear, if it is a tear and not the stock holes, won't cause any damage by itself. But you said it's the bigger bellows. On my setup the larger bellows is the u-joint bellows, which definitely has to be water tight. Are you sure you're looking at the exhaust?

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

What damage does a ripped exhaust bellows cause?

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None

I brought a 1992 sea ray last year and noticed that the exhaust bellows (the larger one?) has been ripped for some time now.

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There are 3 bellows, the largest is the ujoint bellows, the one just below it is the exhaust bellows, the small one around the shift cable is the shift cable bellows.

IF your problem is actually the ujoint bellows, then you have lots of problems. New gimbal bearing, new ujoints, may need a yoke going into the drive because it gets rusty and takes out the front seal of the drive.
Probably also have water in the outdrive.

One other question, which drive do you actually have, Alpha I Gen II, Alpha I, or Bravo? Assuming of course that Sea Ray only used Mercruiser engines and drives in 92.

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

It's an Alpha One.
I was wrong, it's not the larger one and from what Don S said thats a good thing. The ujoint bellows and shift cable bellows look to be in good shape. I will keep my eye on them... Do you have to take the outdrive off to replace? looks like you do

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

I had the same "ripped exhaust bellows" problem happen in my '06 Tahoe Q4 that I bought last summer. The other two bellows were in okay shape, which led my mechanic to believe that the engine had somehow been overheated at some point to cause the further deterioration in the exhaust bellows.

At any rate, he suggested that I replace the worn bellows with just an exhaust "boot" that completes the seal when the trim is down, as a cost-savings measure until I need to replace the other two bellows. I had him do that, but now I get exhaust "soot" around the back and side of my boat everytime I take her out.

Any suggestions? Or should I just have them go back and fully replace all the bellows (including the exhaust again)?

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

ya know isn't that strange. My exhaust bellow tore last year after only one season. A rash of bad exhaust bellows? Do you know how old that bellow was?

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

A rash of bad exhaust bellows?

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Could be if they used Moller bellows kits. We had 2 do that last year. One of them without the boat ever hitting the water.
No problems with OEM bellows at all.

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

My local shop owner told me they also had problems with Sierra bellows over the last two years.

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

dlombardozzi said:

It's an Alpha One.
I was wrong, it's not the larger one and from what Don S said thats a good thing. The ujoint bellows and shift cable bellows look to be in good shape. I will keep my eye on them... Do you have to take the outdrive off to replace? looks like you do

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You do need to pull the drive to replace that bellows. Pulling the drive is 6 nuts on the drive and then 2 more where the trim cylinders attach at the rear (iirc). Pulling off the drive is not much work.

To replace that bellows, you probably will need the "bellows tool". It will reduce the cursing and time it takes to get the bellow installed.

An Exhaust Tube can probably be installed with the drive still in place. It only hooks up on the transome end. The exhaust tube does not need a special tool. The downside is the exhaust will be louder, although most people say they did not notice a difference in noise when putting a tube in place of the bellows.

Replacing the U-Joint bellows BEFORE it rips saves you a lot of $$. More than likely, it will tear, you won't notice it, or you are already in the water when it does happen, then you get water in the bellows which will ruin your gimbal bearing ($60), your u-joints (~ $30 each) and possibly will get water into your drive (depends how much, how long there). The u-joint bellows is also a path for water to go straight into the boat via the gimbal bearing.

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

radiojon said:

I had the same "ripped exhaust bellows" problem happen in my '06 Tahoe Q4 that I bought last summer. The other two bellows were in okay shape, which led my mechanic to believe that the engine had somehow been overheated at some point to cause the further deterioration in the exhaust bellows.

At any rate, he suggested that I replace the worn bellows with just an exhaust "boot" that completes the seal when the trim is down, as a cost-savings measure until I need to replace the other two bellows. I had him do that, but now I get exhaust "soot" around the back and side of my boat everytime I take her out.

Any suggestions? Or should I just have them go back and fully replace all the bellows (including the exhaust again)?

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Sounds like you are running rich. I have the tube and do not get any soot.

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

friscoboater said:

Sounds like you are running rich. I have the tube and do not get any soot.

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Can the tube be put on without taking the outdrive apart?
Ooops... i missed ken_'s response:

ken_23434 said:

You do need to pull the drive to replace that bellows. Pulling the drive is 6 nuts on the drive and then 2 more where the trim cylinders attach at the rear (iirc). Pulling off the drive is not much work.

To replace that bellows, you probably will need the "bellows tool". It will reduce the cursing and time it takes to get the bellow installed.

An Exhaust Tube can probably be installed with the drive still in place. It only hooks up on the transome end. The exhaust tube does not need a special tool. The downside is the exhaust will be louder, although most people say they did not notice a difference in noise when putting a tube in place of the bellows.

Replacing the U-Joint bellows BEFORE it rips saves you a lot of $$. More than likely, it will tear, you won't notice it, or you are already in the water when it does happen, then you get water in the bellows which will ruin your gimbal bearing ($60), your u-joints (~ $30 each) and possibly will get water into your drive (depends how much, how long there). The u-joint bellows is also a path for water to go straight into the boat via the gimbal bearing.

Click to expand...

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

Thanks for all the feedback.
I decided to go the extra mile and replace all three bellows and the water hose. I pulled the broken exhaust halves out and noticed that the water hose has chaffing and when pressed on it leaks water.

Next step, order the parts and make sure I have everything needed. That?s my biggest fear about doing it on my own.

Here?s a pic of one half of the ripped exhaust bellows. Not sure how long it was in service? Looks like it was having a major breakdown. The u-joint bellows does not look to be in bad condition, but I will replace since I don?t know its history.

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

good decision

Re: ripped exhaust bellows

Well, it took some time but it was worth it! The bottom line, the water hose was kinked not allowing water to flow properly, that caused the engine to run hot and that caused the bellows to dry out and crack (see picture). Replaced the u-joint bellows even though it was in good shape, left the shift cable alone. The boats in the water and I?ve been out 2-3 times, engine sounds quieter and all seams good.