I arsed it up...... Advice needed

[stealth1236]

So I have just done a bellows replacement on my 88 Peterbourgh bowrider. It went great...... until the shift cable bellows, in trying to get the front of the shift cable bellows back far enough to put the clip on the front it ripped it. SH**. I cannot afford to redo this and even if I could because of my location its at least 2 weeks, maybe a month, before I could even get the parts. So my idea is to fill it with some marine grease and then use a small hose clamp and maybe some bellows adhesive after the rip to close it up. Thoughts?

 

[poconojoe]

That little bellows is well known for sinking boats. idk, I'm not there to see it, but from the sound of it, I wouldn't.

 

[stealth1236]

I was afraid of that i think you can do the shift cable boot without pulling the bell housing off so at least that's not to bad and should save some money not having to do the whole bellows.

 

[stealth1236]

Alright, so I found out I can buy just the boot not the whole kit again for much much less but it still involves pulling the drive, can I reuse the seals there? It hasn't even been in the water yet and only got bolted on yesterday? sorry if these are stupid questions, I am very new to this.

 

[GA_Boater]

Moved this into the Mercruiser section, stealth. You will get more visibility than in the Mercury outboard section. Good luck.

 

[flipbro]

Pull the drive replace the bellows reuse gasket aslong as it looks good and dont rip

 

[thumpar]

If I remember right you should be able to take the cable off at the engine side and pull it through. Then you don't have to take the drive off.

 

[stealth1236]

Ya i can pull it at the engine but unless someone has a magic trick I cant see anyway to pull it though the bellows without pulling the lower unit. I ordered the seals and gasket for the drive so if i have to i will replace them otherwise i will keep it as a spare.

 

[Fun Times]

It's less stressful on the cable to pull the drive and remove the inner core wire but like mentioned by thumper, disconnect the parts on the engine side and pull the cable out....Whatever you do, don't put the boat in water until repaired correctly because the shift cable bellows has a lot of movement to it during normal use. Trying to reuse the drive/bell housing gaskets are a 50/50 gamble if they rip/tear on you during removal. Good luck.