Alpha 1 4cyl on Wellcraft

[asgrinne]

Do bellows just suddenly go or is it a gradual process? <br /><br />Is every single rubber part surrounding the drive on the back of the boat a "bellow"? <br /><br />Shift.stern and exhaust ones. I am only seeing water come over the top of the drive. Pretty confidant that the whole stern is coming off to fix this right? <br />I found great instructions, just not a much to definitivly say YES THE BELLOWS ARE Shot. <br />Thanks

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Alpha 1 4cyl on Wellcraft

On a mercrusier driver you have three 'bellows'. The top one is the drive bellows which the drive shaft runs through. A leak can develop in this and will leak water into your boat and cause other problems. But the leakage into boat is a big one.<br /><br />The other big one on the bottom is the Exhaust bellows which transports your exhaust into the drive and then out the prop. A leak in this one will make noise, but will not cause any harm.<br /><br />The small one in the shift cable bellows which insualtes the shift cable from water and keep water out of your bilge.<br /><br />They can develop small leaks which grow into large ones, which on any but the exhaust is a serious situation.<br /><br />You will have to be more descriptive of your problem for someone to comment on your situation..

 

[Trent]

Re: Alpha 1 4cyl on Wellcraft

This is the shift cable bellows.

This is the U-Joint bellows.

And this is the exhaust bellows. Not all Mercrusiers have this one but most do.

 

[gary fluke]

Re: Alpha 1 4cyl on Wellcraft

As an aside, my Mercruiser Alpha One manual says to store the boat with the drive unit lowered in order to keep the bellows from cracking. Has this been found to make a big difference in longevity?