Water/oil in drive bellow

mrsandman

Recruit
Joined
Jul 2, 2015
Messages
1
This is my first post, and in need of some guidance,

I traded for a 1971 Hydro Swift boat with a 250 HP 351 Windsor and has a Volvo Penta Outdrive (model #2511045 B) I for some reason can't find this particular outdrive or the corresponding service manual online. But what i'm contending with, is when I put the boat in the water and turned on the motor, everything seemed to work great. I didn't give it too much gas or anything, just gentle usage for a first time out. I parked the boat and noticed later in the evening a small (1/3 cup) of oil on the driveway underneath the outdrive, I saw that the drive bellow on the stern side was partially off, and I understand that is no good, due to getting water in the drive unit. So I managed with a screwdriver and some fancy swivel extension work, to get the hose clamp and bellow properly seated. I was smart enough to change the drive unit oil and drain the milky colored oil out, then flush it and add new oil. The bellow actually looks new and has no tears or cracks. Again two days later I get home and more milky oil on the driveway, and still coming from where i re-seated it the first time. This time when I pulled the drive bellow back to re-seat it, about a half quart of milky oil came out, however the oil in the lower unit is still fresh when i did a quick drain test. So my question is, is this milky colored oil in the bellow an indication of a bad seal inside the outdrive or just a symptom of getting water in there the first time. I am fortunate enough to be mechanically inclined and can fix what ever needs fixing on my own, but my research did not yield a definitive answer. Thank you for your time, and hope to hear from you soon.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,306
damage already done to your u-joints and shaft. your bellows have probably been damaged for a while allowing the input shaft to get rusty due to water getting in where it is not supposed to. that rust in turn ate up your input shaft seal.

you need to remove the drive, replace the rusty u-joints and shaft, re-seal the gear box, and get a new bellows.

this is why we replace the bellows every few years.
 
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