Menace2Authority
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 38
When my boat started leaking I had to check my bellows. When I pulled the drive off I noticed the u-joint bellow had water in it and the gimbal bearing was rusted. My hinge pin tool finally came in so today I removed the bell housing and bellows. I took special care removing the bellows to inspect for cracks. Upon removal and inspection I could not find a hole, crack, or tear anywhere in the u-joint bellow. I did however notice that the seal "ridge" on the transom side was not properly lined up with the groove that it is suposed to seat in on the transom assembly. At first this made sense. Boat had a slow leak at first. One day after a nice ride it started taking on concerning amounts of water. So I figured that during that ride from turning/trimming it pulled the bellow enough to start to allow more water in. Now my boss has an old boat that hasn't seen water in 3 years and I pulled his alpha one drive off to start parting out his heap. His bellow was also full of water and bearing rusted. But... His bellow is seated properly and also appears to be free of cracks/tears. So now I'm asking this....
Is there any other way water can enter the u-joint bellow other than through the bellow itself? If so, is the culprit something that is commonly a probem after 20+ years?
Thanks for your help.
Rob
Is there any other way water can enter the u-joint bellow other than through the bellow itself? If so, is the culprit something that is commonly a probem after 20+ years?
Thanks for your help.
Rob