1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "bellow

[moosejaw]

Excuse the amateur question here but..<br />I was loading my boat up yesterday and noticed that the acordian looking black rubber/plastic tube that runs from the boat (transom) to the alpha 1 drive has a rip/opening about 2" wide in it. There are 2 or three various sizes of these (I assume for cables, drive line etc) and it is the big one that is ripped. It has a hose clamp on one end and seems pressed in on the other.<br />Is this called the bellows?<br />Is is possible to change this with a split boot type to save taking the whole drive off?<br />How long is it safe to use the boat with this ripped like it is?<br />Any help would be appreciated?<br />Thanks

 

[craze1cars]

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Those are definitely your bellows. There are 3...The bottom most, medium sized one is exhuast. You can get by with a leak here without doing any real damage. The little baby one is for the shift cable. If this one is cracked and seeping water, it will rust the shift cable. The biggest one up high is for the ujoint/driveshaft. If this is the one that's ripped, you need to fix it now to prevent expensive gimbal bearing/housing/ujoint replacement due to water intrusion.<br /><br />The only way to replace it is to remove the drive. As a rookie, I did all of my bellows myself over the winter by following procedures outlined in a Mercruiser manual. It was a fairly involved, knuckle busting job that required a few special tools that I had to buy and/or fabricate. I got it done and all is well. Don't attempt this without the guide of a good manual. If you're handy and patient, and good at following directions, you can probably get it done. Otherwise pay a marina. It won't be especially cheap, but I'll let a mechanic give you an estimate as I really don't know what it should cost. I know in doing all bellows and the water hose myself over the winter I had almost $200 invested in the parts and special tools alone, plus I imagine this job is worth a few hours of labor for an experienced mechanic. <br /><br />If that rip has been there for some time, it may already need additional work on the inner parts, so brace yourself for possible need to replace a gimbal bearing, hopefully nothing else. It is definitely time to pull the drive off and do a complete inspection to prevent damage from worsening, there really is no other option as the water is already in there. To seal it up now with a temporary fix would just trap the water in there and accellerate rust. Once you get it fixed, make removing the outdrive and inspecting the bellows and gimbal bearing an annual or at least semi-annual maintenance habit. It can save a lot of money and headaches in the long run.

 

[richard99]

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

I just went thru that process - once you're into it to that level, you might as well replace all the bellows and the trim senders, too. Don't forget the special tool for the exhaust bellows, unless you get lucky like me and it just accidentally slides into place!

 

[cosander]

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

http://www.rodnreel.com/dmarine/ check out there transom repair kits it'll save you some $

 

[moosejaw]

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Actually I had a closer look and it is the exhaust bellows that has the split in it. The rest look like they are in good shape. The gap actually closes up when I lower the leg into the water so it probably doesn't really even leak in the down position too bad.<br />Other than to be really particular about it, is there an important reason to fix this if everything else is fine?<br />I can see replacing it while doing the critiacal ones (shift cable and drive) but would it really be worth taking it all apart just becuase of it?

 

[cosander]

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

you don't really need that bellow from what I understand

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

if its just the exhaust bellows I would wait until its scheduled maint when the drive is off to replace it.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

If the others look OK for now, don't ruin your summer boating season by disassembling now. Run it 'till winter, then pull the drive and have a careful look at everything and strongly consider replacing them all at that time. Then you'll be set for the long haul.

 

[richard99]

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

Re: 1986 18" Rinker c/w 170hp Mercruiser and Alpha 1 - Question on "be

I'm with Craze on that.