Bellows missing

[ChargerMan1]

so a boat I bought, the previous owner said that the lower bellows on the lower unit was not on it. And I'm assuming that they ran the boat in the water. Probably took on water as well. What kind of damage could I be expecting from this idiotic move?

 

[GA_Boater]

Lower bellows would be the exhaust bellows. Not good, but not as disastrous as you think.

I hope they ran the boat in the water. That's what boats are for.

But you bought it thinking the worst. So why?

 

[ChargerMan1]

Ok so what kind of damage could have happened? Yes they ran it in the water

 

[GA_Boater]

Little to none, leaning none.

 

[tpenfield]

None . . . When the boat is resting in the water the exhaust bellows is submerged anyway and filled with water. The water will be up the 'Y' tube (exhaust) to some extent according to the level of the water. The exhaust 'Y' tube is sealed (at least it is supposed to be) so no water will enter the boat (otherwise, every boat at rest in the water would sink, right?)

Mercruiser Bravo drives do not use a bellows, just a stationary tube . . . some folks run Alpha drives with the tube as well, not the bellows

Nothing idiotic about it.

 

[matt167]

exhaust exits at the transom, and not through the prop.. The hot exhaust could damage the U joint bellows ( the important one ) if you ran it long enough on muffs. But, no real risk of damage on the water.

You could probably install the exhaust bellows without pulling it apart

 

[harringtondav]

You should install this bellows, or the tube which would be easier. With the drive down the tube will direct the exhaust through the drive and muffle the noise. More important it will help protect your engine. When you make a fast deceleration - going quickly from a plane to neutral, the large back wave creates a surge that could force pass the Y tube flappers. Very bad if the water gets into the exhaust manifold. The bellows/tube engaged with the drive blocks this wave.

 

[ChargerMan1]

Thanks guys, I'm glad I'm not going to have to fix something else lol. I have the alpha drive off, and bought a new bellows. Hopefully won't be too difficult to install with it off.

 

[ChargerMan1]

Im putting motor back in and I was changing spark plugs. The dpark plugs i pulled out some where rusted. One of the ones that I pulled some water dribbled out of. There are some places that jave this grey hard stuff. So my question remains with that lower bellows. Could it have brought water into the engine?

 

[Grub54891]

Oh man.... Someone may have froze that block. Patched the external cracks, and got rid of it. Sorry...:facepalm:

 

[ChargerMan1]

It ran pretty well when we went to look at it. So I took the manifold apart. They used some liquid gasket so thats the grey stuff. The other side im pretty sure it cracked or something. I have the new gaskets coming, put new spark plugs in and will see what happens when i put the new gasketa in. It ran pretty good so we will see i guess. He did say something that when you threw it into gear fast that it would kind of bog down. But, I found a leak in the fuel line, they didn't have a lower bellow on, spark plugs were crap etc.

 

[MRS]

Jb weld on the manifold

 

[ChargerMan1]

Yeah i know. Jeez

 

[ChargerMan1]

I'm actually thinking about chipping it away to see what it looks like

 

[SLemay]

I'm actually thinking about chipping it away to see what it looks like

if you do, post the photos here. really interested.