Hi Guys,
I've been doing some reading, my boat has a problem, oil and gear lube in the back of the boat. I have talked to 2 mechanics and got 2 different storys, I need a 3rd opinion here.
Everything I have read says my bellows have a hole in them, and water is hitting the upper seal in the drive unit. The seal is leaking, and water and lube mix.
Mechanic 1 says I might have a hole in bellows, he needs to look to make sure. He says if i have a gear lube leak it is probably the propshaft seals that are letting water in. He says the upper seal in the bellows is a special one from mercruiser that is "double lipped to keep water out of the drive". Mechanic 1 say water gets into bellows all of the time, and that is why mercruiser uses this special "double lipped" seal. So when water gets into the bellows, it does not get into the drive.
Mechanic 2 says I have a very common repair. He says when bellows get water in them from a hole, that water fills the bellows and sits against the oil seal. Mechanic 2 says that seal holds oil in only. And if water sits against that seal, it will run past it and into the drive. He says as the drive heats and cools, water and oil mix, get pushed out through the seal, through the bellows, and into the boat.
I asked mechanic 2 why mechanic 1 told me about this "special double lipped oil seal" from mercruiser. Mechanic 2 laughed at me a little bit (but not badly) and said that the oil seal is a single lip oil seal only. He said that sometimes, depending on who makes the seal for mercruiser that year, that some of them have "dust lips" on them. He said they are just that, "dust lips" and do nothing to keep the water out of the drive incase it gets into the bellows. He says some seals have it, he has seen others without it. He also says he has seen some "real amatuer mechanics" out there that confuse that dust lip for being some kind of "double seal", but that it is clearly not. Mechanic 2 also tells me a common part of this repair is the shaft that goes into the drive usually gets gouged when this happens, and will need replacement, as well as the ujoints, gimbal bearing and of course all of the bellows. He also reccomends doing a shift cable since he is in there, and that is it all of 1/2 more labor to do it now, vs doing it at a later date.
Who do I believe here, is mechanic 2 pulling my leg? Is there a "special double lipped oil seal"? 1 of them is right, 1 of them is wrong, or they are both wrong. Mechanic 2 seems to think I need alot of parts of front. Mechanic 1 mentioned nothing of the sort.
Who do I believe here? Does mercruiser have any documents about "this special double lipped seal"??
Signed-- HELP!
I've been doing some reading, my boat has a problem, oil and gear lube in the back of the boat. I have talked to 2 mechanics and got 2 different storys, I need a 3rd opinion here.
Everything I have read says my bellows have a hole in them, and water is hitting the upper seal in the drive unit. The seal is leaking, and water and lube mix.
Mechanic 1 says I might have a hole in bellows, he needs to look to make sure. He says if i have a gear lube leak it is probably the propshaft seals that are letting water in. He says the upper seal in the bellows is a special one from mercruiser that is "double lipped to keep water out of the drive". Mechanic 1 say water gets into bellows all of the time, and that is why mercruiser uses this special "double lipped" seal. So when water gets into the bellows, it does not get into the drive.
Mechanic 2 says I have a very common repair. He says when bellows get water in them from a hole, that water fills the bellows and sits against the oil seal. Mechanic 2 says that seal holds oil in only. And if water sits against that seal, it will run past it and into the drive. He says as the drive heats and cools, water and oil mix, get pushed out through the seal, through the bellows, and into the boat.
I asked mechanic 2 why mechanic 1 told me about this "special double lipped oil seal" from mercruiser. Mechanic 2 laughed at me a little bit (but not badly) and said that the oil seal is a single lip oil seal only. He said that sometimes, depending on who makes the seal for mercruiser that year, that some of them have "dust lips" on them. He said they are just that, "dust lips" and do nothing to keep the water out of the drive incase it gets into the bellows. He says some seals have it, he has seen others without it. He also says he has seen some "real amatuer mechanics" out there that confuse that dust lip for being some kind of "double seal", but that it is clearly not. Mechanic 2 also tells me a common part of this repair is the shaft that goes into the drive usually gets gouged when this happens, and will need replacement, as well as the ujoints, gimbal bearing and of course all of the bellows. He also reccomends doing a shift cable since he is in there, and that is it all of 1/2 more labor to do it now, vs doing it at a later date.
Who do I believe here, is mechanic 2 pulling my leg? Is there a "special double lipped oil seal"? 1 of them is right, 1 of them is wrong, or they are both wrong. Mechanic 2 seems to think I need alot of parts of front. Mechanic 1 mentioned nothing of the sort.
Who do I believe here? Does mercruiser have any documents about "this special double lipped seal"??
Signed-- HELP!
