Volvo 290 Outdrive Bellows Replacement

[aiacovo]

Hey Everyone, i have a new to me 1988 Imperial VC230 (was my uncles who passed two years ago) with a Volvo Penta AQ171C with a 290 outdrive. I blew the head gasket while testing it out a few weeks ago after an impeller failure, so operation fix it is underway. Headgasket is almost done, but i need to do bellows (Exhaust and Drive). No one seems to know anything about it at my local Volvo Penta dealership "parts shop". So i am seeking some advice, bellows both have extremely small pin hole from wear. What else do i need to replace while i am in there aside from the bellows. Alos, does the whole drive need to come off, i know for the drive bellow you can just spin the upper gear box. Any guidance will be appreciated. Thank You

 

[Scott Danforth]

look in the stickies, there is a step by step proceedure.

bellows, impeller, and water inlet casting are a replace every 2-3 year deal on the AQ drives.

most likely if you have a pin hole in your u-joint bellows your input shaft is rusted. that needs to be addressed as the rust will eat the input shaft seal.

 

[kenny nunez]

If water entered and stayed there for some time the bearing in the adapter housing may be rusted, The 171 has the same adapter housing as the other 4 cylinder models. The shaft can be removed without pulling the engine. There are some snap rings that hold the bearing in place under the seal and some times the shaft is internally threaded so that a slide hammer can be used to pull the shaft. Hopefully the shaft is not rusted into the damper plate. If it is, then the real fun begins!

 

[Maclin]

The exhaust bellows has pinholes on the bottom of most of the ridges for draining when the drive is up on the trailer.

Welcome Aboard! Good luck on your project.

 

[QBhoy]

Likely the best advice is to pull the whole drive for maintenance as good practice....but to answer your question, you don’t need to take the whole drive off to do the bellows. You can get away with just taking half off.