Hey all -- looking for some opinion and advice.
I have a 2 year old Bravo III Seacore drive. The Drive, and Transom Assembly were all replaced in May 2011. The Seacore drives have a 4 year warranty.
Noticed some water dripping into the bilge this weekend from the back of the engine, so took the boat over to my local Mercruiser service center. Was there when they pulled the drive off and there was obvious water inside the U-Joint bellows. This is the first time the drive has been removed since new. Boat is stored year round in the water in the PNW and I rarely trim it up.
Found some oddball things upon inspection. First, it appears that when the drive unit was fitted into the bellows, the installer used some sort of black sealant between the bellows ring and the drive. The senior mechanic at the shop was summoned to inspect and found this to be of concern as it appears to be some sort of "field repair" and certainly not normal.
Next, he found that the drive lube check valve seal was squished and it appears that the drive was not aligned with it properly when installed.
Finally, we found a tear in the bellows -- but the tear appears to have been made from the inside of the bellows as there is scoring and then the cut that can be seen from inside. The tear itself is perpendicular to the bellows folds (it cuts across the folds rather than parallel with them). It's obvious that something has cut the bellows and it appears to be from the inside (e.g. maybe something that flung off the u-joints). The bellows themselves otherwise appear to be in good shape -- they are soft and the c-clamp was in good shape -- nice and tight.
Anyhow, looks like a new gimbal bearing, u-joints, oil change and bellows change are in order. I am hoping that Mercruiser covers this under the warranty and I can make the case that the cut in the bellows was internal not external.
We have pics, and the service guys have bagged and tagged all the parts. Any thoughts?
I have a 2 year old Bravo III Seacore drive. The Drive, and Transom Assembly were all replaced in May 2011. The Seacore drives have a 4 year warranty.
Noticed some water dripping into the bilge this weekend from the back of the engine, so took the boat over to my local Mercruiser service center. Was there when they pulled the drive off and there was obvious water inside the U-Joint bellows. This is the first time the drive has been removed since new. Boat is stored year round in the water in the PNW and I rarely trim it up.
Found some oddball things upon inspection. First, it appears that when the drive unit was fitted into the bellows, the installer used some sort of black sealant between the bellows ring and the drive. The senior mechanic at the shop was summoned to inspect and found this to be of concern as it appears to be some sort of "field repair" and certainly not normal.
Next, he found that the drive lube check valve seal was squished and it appears that the drive was not aligned with it properly when installed.
Finally, we found a tear in the bellows -- but the tear appears to have been made from the inside of the bellows as there is scoring and then the cut that can be seen from inside. The tear itself is perpendicular to the bellows folds (it cuts across the folds rather than parallel with them). It's obvious that something has cut the bellows and it appears to be from the inside (e.g. maybe something that flung off the u-joints). The bellows themselves otherwise appear to be in good shape -- they are soft and the c-clamp was in good shape -- nice and tight.
Anyhow, looks like a new gimbal bearing, u-joints, oil change and bellows change are in order. I am hoping that Mercruiser covers this under the warranty and I can make the case that the cut in the bellows was internal not external.
We have pics, and the service guys have bagged and tagged all the parts. Any thoughts?