Exhaust bellows leak?

[BAYLINER185]

I was out tonight on my 27 foot cruser and low and behold while fishing we drifted into really shallow water. Depth finder said like 2 foot. CRAP! SO I fired up the motor carefully put into reverse and wound up hittign my prop on the bottom or something close to it. prop covered in mud for the most part and did very very very very minor damage. The blades barely have any nicks but one did get a tiny little bend. I can easily tap it out with a hammer ( aluminium prop ) and file out the blades and make them new again. I just did that to the SS prop that came with the boat but is the wrong prop pitch and is not going back on.

My real issue that I found but I also beleive was there before this happend is that I see water dripping into the bildge right where the exhaust maifolds connect to each other and exit out the transom. I originally thought it was the drive bellows but its not. Its not the drive shaft area it s right below that so Im sure water is NOT messing with the drive bearing ( gimbal bearing ).

I was getting water out of the bildge each time before Id take the boat out so Im sure this condition was existing and was NOT caused by dragging my prop in the mud and being in 1 or 2 foot of water but I did find this after this happend and now I want it fixed.

I am going to pull the exhaust bellows off tomarrow as it doenst look like its all the way on on the drive side but does look fine on the transom side. The bellows its self doenst have any cracks or dry rot and my mechanics even looked at them when I had them do some shift cable adjustments and said they are fine.

Any ides why I see water dripping? Is this just the cooling water exiting and dripping? Although I do see it leak even with the motor off so I doubt its the water exiting the exhaust?

Any input is all good. I have replaced these parts before on a previous boat and have pulled a drive once or twice. This is a 7.4 motor w/ bravo one stern drive on a BAYLINER 2755 cruser.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

leaky exhaust bellows won't put water in the boat.

 

[Flukinicehole]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

I just had a boat that I was working on with the same problem. I hope you dont have the same problem this one did. The water could be coming from a few areas. First thing I would do is Fill the Y pipe and see if it is leaking. I plugged the exhaust with a rag at the drive. If it is leaking then hope your Y pipe gasket is no good. The boat I just did had electrolysis and needed a complete transom assembly. Being that your in Arizona I assume it is fresh water and hopefully this is not the case. The exhaust bellows will not leak water into your boat I`v seen boats without them even on. Your water is coming from somewhere else you just have to find it.

 

[Don S]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

Before you start pulling the engine to check the Y pipe oring, and that or a broken Y pipe flange is about the only thing that will cause it to leak there, get everything dried off and spray some talcum power around the pipe, the shift cable bellows, where the hose comes thru for the wiring etc. then put it back in the water and see where the streaks are. On the black transom shield it's really hard to see a small leak. Streaks in the powder will leave a trail from the leak.

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

Thanks DON I will definetly do that. I have some small talk bottles with spray nozels that I can shoot into the area and see.

Its not electrolisis as mentioned there is NO corosion and I am in fresh water. Im not plannign on pulling the motor as the water I see is just a small drip and I suspect is been doign that a long time. When I 1st picked up the boat at the previos marina where it was storded ( about 400 miles from me and not in the water ) I opened thd transom drain and a ton of water ran out. I dotn think they ever drained the bildge. I do it all the time and store the boat w/ plug out and I usually get the same amount of water every time out of the bildge even if Im in the water longer periods of time then others. Im not really worried about this but I would like to know if its somethign I can fix easy enough. Is quite possible its a damn shift cable boot. Im going to investigate all these ideas and see what I can find.

If my Y pipe is broken in any way wouldnt it be possible to smell exhaust fumes or even the motor to sound very exhaust heavy since there is an opening to 1 leak smoke and 2 sound like a car with a busted tail pipe?

I have neither of these issues.

 

[Don S]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

If my Y pipe is broken in any way wouldnt it be possible to smell exhaust fumes or even the motor to sound very exhaust heavy since there is an opening to 1 leak smoke and 2 sound like a car with a busted tail pipe?

Not a leak like you have. Your leak is under water, if it was large enough to leak fumes or noise, you would have a LOT of water coming in.
I really-really doubt the problem is with your exhaust Y. It might drip off of it, but It's coming from somewhere else. It's just very hard to locate sometimes.

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

SO I pulled the bellows and re installed it it was not completly seated all the way on the drive end and I was able to reseat it all the way on.

I even put some AMASING GOOP sealer / glue on the edge so I know its water sealed on the drive now and the only way water can flow in is through the prop and up into the exhaust. There was some water in the bellows when I removed the bellows, so water does / did get in there. Now is that normal or not? Because some boats dont have a bellows. I even removed it on my old boat to try out and it ran like crap without it.

I also re crimped the shift cable boot and then coated the end with the glue sealer and its 100% seald and Im confident its water tight.

I still see the water dripping in and it seems like its a little slower now, not as much as before so maby I fixed it partially with these little corrections.

Im not too worried about it as the bildge doesnt fill up enough that the pump is in water so its nothing major I feel. My 07 185 takes on as much water and that boat has 15 hours on it so this doesnt have me majorly conserned, just courious.

The boat runs fine now that I tested it out tonight after fixing the dinged up prop from the other night. As I said it was nothing major so it was a simple fix with a file and Krylon Gloss Black spray paint.

I also repainted my outdrive and it looks brand new again.

Ill keep an eye on the water and if it seems to get worse then Ill dig into the problem a lot deeper.

The thing is its so far back behind the engine its not easy to see it and if you didnt know what I was looking at you wouldnt even see it. I know my friend thinks I was seeing things the other night and problably said I see water comming in just so we could call it a night....lol.....

What I ought to do is take out my 185 and see if the water that accumulates in the bildge comes from the same place. Then Id almost call this NORMAL.

DON my other thought was after looking at the TRANSOM seal kit here in the marine store thinking I may need a new bellows and the only way to get it here is to buy the entire kit that there is a gaskit that is under the MERCRUSER TRASOM PLATE and Im woundering if its simple to replace. Pull the drive off and gimbal by removing hinge pins and then remove the bolts WAY behind the engine that the transom will come off easy and a new gaskit can go on.

I had a leak in my old Webbcraft ( a wellcraft rebadge )10 years ago that persisted after changing all the bellows that if the boat sat in water over night the ski locker would flood. I beleived then that it may have been that gaskit as I never changed it and wasnt "smart" enough then to do a job like that. If its as easy as I think I would eventually replace that gaskit. I may ask a mechanic thats really reasonable about that.

Again at the moment I feel like I need not worry about this but if it does get worse then I will address it. If its stays consistant I wont worry. The previous owner never mentioned anything excessive about water inthe bildge but then again do X owners ever tell I think NOT.



HMMMMMM after rereading my own post I WONDER since the flow I see is IN if its the WATER PICK UP HOSE that feeds the cooling water to the motor.

Ill have to go stick my head in there deeper and see if I can trace the pick up hose all the way back. I havent see it on this boat but I have see it on the 185.......DAMN maby thats it!

 

[John_S]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

What I ought to do is take out my 185 and see if the water that accumulates in the bildge comes from the same place. Then Id almost call this NORMAL."

No, NOT normal. If that 185 is still on warrantee, take it back to the dealer.

 

[Don S]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

Here is a couple of things to think about.
Any water leak coming in around or thru the tranosm shield or any of it's connections are NOT NORMAL
It's a leak and it shouldn't leak.
Two. A leaky exhaust bellows will NOT allow water in the boat.
Even if you took the bellows clear off, it won't leak water into the boat and you can still run the boat. Think about it. The exhaust goes thru it, and on out thru the exhaust reliefs and thru the prop which are all open to the water.
You have a leak, and it IS a problem. To repair a leak, you first have to locate exactly so you know what is leaking, then you wil know what to fix. All you are doing is throwing parts at it randomly hoping for a fix.
Every part on that outdrive and transom shield can be bought seperatly, you DO NOT have to by some KIT with lots of extra parts you don't need.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

There was some water in the bellows when I removed the bellows, so water does / did get in there. Now is that normal or not?

Ayuh,....... When the motors Not running,....
That Whole Cavity is Full of Water, Up into the Y-pipe to a level equal to the water level outside the boat.......

Im woundering if its simple to replace. Pull the drive off and gimbal by removing hinge pins and then remove the bolts WAY behind the engine that the transom will come off easy and a new gaskit can go on.

Ayuh,........

If by chance That is leaking,......
It usually indicates that the Transom Wood is Rotten,+ allowing a gap there......
And,.......
The Motor has to be Removed,..... It's hanging on the other side of that assembley........

Also,...... I Agree with John,...... New boats should Not Leak,.........
get it Fixed......

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

Ayuh,....... When the motors Not running,....
That Whole Cavity is Full of Water, Up into the Y-pipe to a level equal to the water level outside the boat.......
-----------------------------QUOTE BONDO------------------------------

Yea that is exactly what I thought but for some reason I couldnt get it to register in my brain lol..... Its pretty much a commens sence thing as water is ALL AROUND ME at that point LOL I thought maby theres a flapper that kept water out or some kind of check valve that I may have not known about.


Yes the 185 is under warrenty and I already talked to them about it.......

DON S

I hear ya I will keep looking and see if I can locate the problem. I always felt that ANY boat should not have any water in the bildge for any reason.

As far as the transom rotting Im 100% sure thats not it. All the wood and stringers and everything else is solid as a rock. I did also see that the engine is hanging on that inner transom plate and was woundering how hard it would be to remove that outer peice.

I will keep diging...Im determained to figure it out! I want to become as good as I can be with fixing and maintaining my boats so this could be really good proactice for me

I do apprecite the help and answers. It helps to confirm my thoughts and what I physically see.


I might try to take my dig. cam out there and see if I can shoot a quick video of this in action and see if I can post it. I know taking a pic may be impossible because the shutter will close when the drip is not there LOL.....But in a video if it can be done might be able to show this.

Thanks agin

Vic

 

[Don S]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

Water can get in the bilge from a lot of different places, the air vents, the deck seam between the upper deck and the hull, around thru hull fittings. Some you can't stop, but you say yours is leaking and dripping from the transom shield. That, is not normal.
Just take a still picture, use a program like Microsoft Paint (Comes standard with XP) to mark where the leak is, or where it's dripping from.

To remove the outer transom shield, remove the engine, remove the exhaust Y, then remove the inner transom shield, then you can pull the outer.

 

[Don S]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

Here is a drawing of the lower part of the transom shield. Look around the area where the shift cable comes thru the transom shield, I know you can see all the way around that little bellows to see any cracks, but you should (with plenty of light) be able to see water in the hole from the inside. It would run down and drip off the Exhaust Y pipe. It may also be the seal or even a defective Y pipe that is leaking, or water running down from the hoses that hook to the engine.
Also look at where the hoses and wires for the Mercathode come thru. May take some fancy mirror work to see.
In the past, I have pulled the engine, put the drive back on, and put the boat in the water to check for leaks. You can just sit in the engine compartment and see everything with the engine out.

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Exhaust bellows leak?

To remove the outer transom shield, remove the engine, remove the exhaust Y, then remove the inner transom shield, then you can pull the outer.

----------------------DON S QUOTE------------------------------

Yea thats what I figured. WOW .......well let me take a pic and Ill point out where i see water.

It is and it isnt the transom sheild as its not comming from the sides or edgs of the but looks liek its right at where the Y connects to the sheild. How does the Y pipe connect to the sheild? the sheild and Y are 2 seperate items. I "think" thats the culprit. Ill take a pic and point lol......

Don your awesome, I really apprecite your help. And as I posted in the other thread I love that you have a schematic for everything. You must be an incredibe marine specialist!