What do you do?

[rickasbury]

So, probably not the right section for the question but I figure this an issue for I/O owners for the most part. After buying my boat about 4 years ago (Rinker 270) and with no service history and a PO that I would not really trust to tell me anything I did not want to hear, I was very worried about bellows and the boat sinking. Then, after getting familiar with it and inspecting it regularly I was not as concerned about it although it was on my list of stuff to do- which has now been done. Also, transom asy was completely removed with a leak around that main seal and I wanted to inspect the transom and fix that leak which now all is done. I had dunked it in the water at the ramp prior to re installing the engine to make sure my leak was fixed and as far as I know it is. Not to derail this thread, I don't think a lot about the engineering of how the bellows and shift cable attach. Sure looks like something that easily could go wrong when you consider that about every other hose on the boat is double clamped yet we have the whole fate of the boating hanging on a rubber bellows that gets pulled back and forth, it has a clamp on it with some adhesive. I don't understand why they can't cast some kind of lip or indent where the clamp goes so it can't slide off. When I first dunked the boat in the above test it was leaking- when I put the out drive back on it must have gone up to far and the shift cable boot started to come off and it was leaking. Re attached and all seemed to be good. Anyway, back to my question...so now that I have "fixed" everything, I'm back to being concerned that something can go wrong and the boat sink. I"m putting it in the water tomorrow at my local city marina to spend the night to hopefully have a "dry run" of being back in the water and checking to make sure it is indeed fixed. But, assuming it is fixed, you could always have a below water line hose that ruptures or something that water is coming in and the pump can't keep up with. So, in the event of something like this happening, what do you do? Seatow? What if it is in the middle of the night? Does the marina typically have an emergency number to call with a handy pump??

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

A few suggestions

Before you launch

(1) RE-Inspect your shift bellows install before launching -- It should not be over stretched with the drive up and not overly compress with the drive down.
(2) Ensure the plug is in ( Its easy to forget when you have a lot on your mind )
(3) ensure your bilge pump is operating -- check the float switch & feed some water through it.
(3) pack a bright flashlight in good working order )
(4) bring a confident assistant and keep the head count to a min for engine access etc.

As you launch the boat -

Inspect for leaks before leaving the trailer.


At the dock
Continue leak monitoring for a few minutes & once start the engine more leakage points are in play such as exhaust so be sure to inspect with the engine running.

Verify your dry for the first 5-10 minutes

Proceed away from shore & check again periodically // return to shore if it seem like

A tight boat will be dry when you return to the dock and pull the plug -- assuming no rain or other deck water

Getting through that with good result should build confidence on the leak situation


Most area's have towing ( ask you dock they likely know the local towing contact info. ) & the coast guard can help if its really needed

 

[Scott Danforth]

you are over-thinking the bellows, millions of boats are still floating

you need insurance for what can go wrong. this is both comprehensive and towing insurance. if you dont think you need separate towing insurance, check your policy. a tow from Tow Boat US or SeaTow can easily triple the limit of your normal towing insurance allotment

follow the pre-launch checks above

go boating and have fun

 

[JASinIL2006]

I agree the bellows seem like a kind of flaky idea, but Scott is right... lots and lots of boats have I/Os and you don't often hear of sinkings due to the bellows, especially if the boat was reasonably well-maintained. I suppose if someone were really worried about it, they could just get an outboard-powered boat and eliminate much of the risk.

For my peace of mind, I installed a second bilge pump and a second battery in case the first failed or couldn't keep up. My boat only lives in the water 24/7 for a few weeks a year (the rest of the time it resides on a trailer), so that was good enough for my piece of mind.

 

[achris]

Even with the bellows completely gone, it's not a torrent of water coming in. The water has to make it THROUGH the gimbal bearing, which has a seal on both sides. It would be less than if you forgot to put the bung in.. A 1100l/hr pump would be able to keep up with that with ease.

And as the others have said, millions of boats out there that have bellows, and a sinking due to bellows failure is RARE....

Chris.......

 

[garbageguy]

Ya, probably not the greatest design, but $ have a huge impact on how a design gets finalized. I'm with achris and the others: You understand the situation; you've done your maintenance; you'll check, check, check; make sure bilge pumps is good. Have fun with your boat!

 

[rickasbury]

I agree there are lots of boats out there with them. What there isn't are ones I have worked on! That boot coming starting to come off the shift cable really spooked me...I have pulled pretty good on both of them, don't want to over tighten the clamps and everything seems to be snugged up. So, what I am doing tomorrow is putting the boat down the ramp, starting her up and watching...I have already started it at the house. I really did not remove hoses on the motor except for the hot water heater and I did replace the risers and they are snugged up good. Before I put the motor in , I put the out drive on, plugged up the water tube and backed here in and that was good....so, I think I should be good. I'm just going to motor over to a slip and spend the night on it and keep an eye out......Then, will sign up for sea tow before I venture out.....just in case.

Lots of good info, how ever, did not get much advice on what the heck to do if in the middle of the night something goes south on me.....just jump off and deal with it in the morning and the marina???

 

[JASinIL2006]

Lots of good info, how ever, did not get much advice on what the heck to do if in the middle of the night something goes south on me.....just jump off and deal with it in the morning and the marina???

Start bailing!

Seriously, if you do find you're taking on water, I'd probably just stay with the boat and make sure bilge pump keeps working. Will you be on shore power or entirely on battery while in the slip?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Start bailing!

Seriously, if you do find you're taking on water, I'd probably just stay with the boat and make sure bilge pump keeps working. Will you be on shore power or entirely on battery while in the slip?

Or beach it.

 

[rickasbury]

Shore power...I assume rinker put a pump in there that would keep up per the above. A second pump will be on my list...how about the shift boot...how do I position correctly before I zip tie it?

 

[achris]

....how about the shift boot...how do I position correctly before I zip tie it?

With the drive down, turn the steering hard to port... That with be the position the bellows will be fully extended... So fully extend it on the shift cable and put the cable tie on at that position.
Or you could turn the steering hard to starboard and fully collapse the bellows, and put the cable tie on in that position, but getting to it is a bit harder... You're call.

Most importantly, don't pull the tie up with maximum effort. It should still be able to slide when you're done...

Chris....

 

[dlogvine]

If your boat is a very very old one you should have foam under your deck. According to the coast guard requirements this foam should keep your boat afloat even when it fills up with water. This should give you some piece of mind. Also exhaust bellows is there mainly to get exhausts further away from the boat and not to keep the water away from the engine. In any case a good bilge pump should be able to get all the water out maybe even when you leave your drain plug out. Put a high volume automatic pump to be on the safe side.

 

[DouglasW]

Even with the bellows completely gone, it's not a torrent of water coming in. The water has to make it THROUGH the gimbal bearing, which has a seal on both sides. It would be less than if you forgot to put the bung in.. A 1100l/hr pump would be able to keep up with that with ease.

And as the others have said, millions of boats out there that have bellows, and a sinking due to bellows failure is RARE....

Chris.......

Not only that but the gimbal bearing should be full of grease. Last year when I took off the drive to inspect the bearing and bellows for the first time, I couldn't even see the bearing for all the grease.

 

[achris]

.... This should give you some piece of mind.....

Which piece? Maybe the frontal or orbital lobe? Or maybe you mean 'peace of mind'....

Chris....
(Who's probably lost several pieces of his mind )

 

[dlogvine]

Which piece? Maybe the frontal or orbital lobe? Or maybe you mean 'peace of mind'....

Chris....
(Who's probably lost several pieces of his mind )

Of course the missing piece. In my case both left and right hemispheres. And you have to excuse my autocorrect, it does miracles, especially when I'm typing on my phone without glasses.

 

[rickasbury]

Thanks Chris ( and all for the input!) Will be nice in FL today...heavy rain tonight and cold and clearing in the morning...will pull the boat back out when it clears and will be 35 by the am which is pretty darn cold for us!

 

[Bt Doctur]

water is coming in and the pump can't keep up

Thats why most informed boaters run two 1 1/8 size pumps 1500 minimum gph

 

[rickasbury]

That will be on top of the list for upgrades ... separate float switches to. I guess I can run off the same helm switch. I sure will feel better when that is done.

 

[Lou C]

Well if you are going to run an I/O then yearly you should go over ALL the bellows clamps and ALL the cooling hoses both at the transom and inside the boat as well. Because a hose that pops off the inner transom mount (Alpha, Cobra) will quickly overheat the engine (due to the drive mounted impeller happily pumping away) AND fill the bilge with sea water (happened to me some time back). That's the little adventure that led to my top end overhaul back in '17. When I noticed the overheating the water (salt) was up to the engine pulleys.
If you don't want to worry about all this make you next boat outboard powered.

 

[rickasbury]

On the water...