bellow leak a bit confusing

Menace2Authority

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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
 

Don S

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

What outdrive ya working on?
 

Menace2Authority

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

Sorry. My drive is a Mercruiser 1 drive. My boss' is an Alpha One drive. Even if my bellow wasn't seated properly, the boat is 18 1/2 foot wide body and took on 1 foot of water in 7 hrs. Seems like a lot of water to me. Ring clamp was good and tight.
 

paultjohnson

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

possible the big 4 in ? O ring that goes between the upper unit and the bell housing gave up the ghost ?????
 

Menace2Authority

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

possible the big 4 in ? O ring that goes between the upper unit and the bell housing gave up the ghost ?????

The big 4" o-ring was pooched. "Loose and cracked". However, would the gasket between the drive unit and bell housing not prevent water from getting to that o-ring?
 

Don S

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

The big 4" o-ring was pooched. "Loose and cracked". However, would the gasket between the drive unit and bell housing not prevent water from getting to that o-ring?

Nope.

If the bellows is good, that quad ring caused the problem.
One note. The drive should be pulled yearly to check alignment, LUBE THE COUPLER SPLINES, and other preventive maintenance items in there. A new 5-8 dollar gasket kit should be installed each time.
The ujoint bellows should be replaced every 5 to 6 years as preventive maintenance.
 

paultjohnson

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

HMMMMMMMMMMMM... Good Point.. Do you know for certain that your upper shift shaft bushing [ in the bellhousing ] BTW merc has a much more watertight upgraded bushing for shift shaft- and your water passage o ring and shift cable nut [the 9/16th nut that the shift shaft cable pass thru on bellhousing are all watertight? Or even your shift shaft cable sheath- say that 3 times fast-had a crack in it, could allow water to the internals. I would think that if any of those three items lost watertight integrity water could work its way up to that failed 4in o ring and into the u joint bellows. All could be examined by pulling outdrive of of bellhousing. That big 4 in O ring is the last line of defense from water coming in from the rear-
 

Bt Doctur

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

A high bilge water level would do the same.
 

Menace2Authority

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

Nope.

If the bellows is good, that quad ring caused the problem.
One note. The drive should be pulled yearly to check alignment, LUBE THE COUPLER SPLINES, and other preventive maintenance items in there. A new 5-8 dollar gasket kit should be installed each time.
The ujoint bellows should be replaced every 5 to 6 years as preventive maintenance.

So I would assume that alignment going out COULD cause that 4" o-ring to leak then. Guess I'll have to order the alignment tool as well. All alignments are done by shimming the front motor mounts are they?

Rob
 

Bt Doctur

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Re: bellow leak a bit confusing

So I would assume that alignment going out COULD cause that 4" o-ring to leak then

No. improper installation of the ring or drive.Alignment is with the front mounts only
 
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