Bellhousing gasket squeezing out

[Strecker25]

Hi all, I reinstalled my drives a couple weeks ago. No issues getting them on, slid on with ease. What i noticed today is that on the stbd side of the stbd drive the bellhousing gasket seems to have pressed out a bit around where the shift cable is, the gasket is quite thin there. I can see the red sealant. These are OEM gaskets, and the nuts were tightened to 50lb/ft per the manual.

It happened on the port side but on the side of the drive where the water Oring was, so I figured the compressed ring pushed it out. I loosened the nuts very slightly and held the gasket in place with a small flat piece of metal while I tightened it. I can do that on the stbd side as well, I'm just concerned there might be another issue?

Gasket surfaces were clean and flat all around.

 

[bspeth]

It happens to me about half the time.what you did by loosening the drive should work in my opinion.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I had to use a dab of Goop on the outside of my Alpha 1 to keep it in. Did it every last time. Eventually I filed off a little of the surface so it pressed on the gasket in that thin spot a little less. Still stuck a little dab of goop on it every time.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Was the gasket surfaces of the bellhousin', 'n drive CLEAN, before ya put the drive on,..??

An ole chunk of gasket will cause a tight spot,.....

 

[Grub54891]

As bondo said, super clean so that red seal has some bite. And when torqueing to spec's I start in the center, side to side and alternate to the opposite corners. Half way then final torque. The nuts themselves could need replacement, as they get wore out and allow improper torque themselves. If you can screw them on by hand past the nylon even just a little bit they are ready to be replaced.

 

[Strecker25]

Thanks guys, surfaces were very clean. I ordered some new nuts just in case, when they come I will replace them and see what happens. Being such a new gasket and the material these gaskets are made of, I wouldn't think there is any issue with loosening the nuts a couple turns to push that section back in place? I know some crush gaskets (risers, for example) are a one shot deal, but these don't seem like that.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Just to be clearer on what I was doing, I did not get any Goop on the gasket, I would barely tighten down the nuts, then stick a 1/2 inch dab of Goop outside over the top of the mating surface where the gasket wanted to always poop out. I'd let it harden then I'd come back and tighten the nuts down to spec. This was on an old outdrive with some corrosion on the upper.

After I purchased an SEI outdrive I no longer had to do that. The perfectly flat surfaces held a gasket properly. I just could never stop the gasket on the old outdrive from pooching out a week or a month after install, which always let water in. So a little Goop solved it for me. I'd much rather not redneck it together that way, given a choice. But do what you have to.

 

[Strecker25]

Thanks Rick, that makes sense. Our upper is the original (98) so I'm sure the surfaces have deteriorated a bit over the years.

As a side note, What becomes the major risk of a leaky bell housing gasket? Assuming the large Oring does its job, and the shift bellows do not leak, is it just the shift cable end that will corrode? Is the bellhousing gasket just the first line of defense to stop the bellows from getting swamped?

I'm not asking to minimize the importance of the BH gasket, just curious of the design.

 

[Rick Stephens]

When mine would fill up with water, first thing I would notice is the motor would die occasionally when shifting caused by water intrusion into the shift cable. I'd pull the leg while camping at the lake, pull the inner shift cable out and use electrical contact cleaner to blow the water out of the cable housing.

Also, I have yet to ever see the big square o-ring keep water out of the u-joint bellows. So I'd dry that out and regrease the u-joint. Could always tell when water was in the u-joint bellows, the boat got noisy when starting out.

Water ain't good in there. It causes all sorts of stuff, all bad.

 

[Strecker25]

Gotcha, thanks for the info Rick. I'll be sure to get those gaskets re-seated and torqued with the new nuts. I don't have the ability to pull the boat myself, so we want this right the first time before we splash. I'll also have a chance to monitor it for a couple weeks on the hard to make sure the gaskets don't creep out again

 

[Strecker25]

Just wanted to update this thread. The nuts were definitely bad, vinyl was worn and I could basically unscrew them by hand after breaking them loose. With the new bolts the gasket sits probably in all but one spot. Below are the pictures, the first is from the rear looking at the transom, the next looking aft at the drive. As you can see, the upper has some corrosion that has caused the bead to be exposed. The second photo shows the gimbal housing covering the whole thing properly. Replacing the upper is just not in the cards this year, so I'm going to have to go with it. It seems like it's at least making some kind of seal to me. Thoughts?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Do whatever you have to do to keep it running - why not? Hence my glue solution for a year. It's more important to keep water out than satisfying the boat gods by never using sealer on a outdrive gasket :^)

 

[Strecker25]

Good point, it can't hurt at this point. What sealant were you using on yours?

 

[Rick Stephens]

I was using Goop marine. It makes for a VERY tough surface seal. I hate silicon any longer. Goop is as close as I'll get.

 

[Strecker25]

Thanks Rick. I'll get a tube of the goop and fill the void where the upper has corroded a bit, hopefully that will be enough for a season.