big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

[mrbill812]

I was finishing up final checks to drop my boat in the water before trailering her from Colorado to Table rock lake MO. and found a huge gash in the exhaust bellows. Hopefully the picture will attach. Unfortunetly the shops are 10 days out to look at your boat and of course I leave in 10 days!

I'm trying to figure out how something like this happens? it pretty much looks torn by something but what? It was not worn as the gimbal and bellows were replaced two seasons ago, and I had planned on bringing it in after my trip from table rock to drop the lower unit for inspection and grease the gimbal. (out here the shop recommends a 2 year cycle for gimbal inspection due to our short boating season) don't yell at me Don!

So any advice, insight on how this could happen would be much appreciated, I'm stopping by the donut shop now to see if I can get this repaired in 10 days.

thanks,
mrbill

 

[skydiveD30571]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

How old was that bellows? It was old and severely cracking, simply trimming up can rip it apart. Otherwise, most likely a stick or some other type of debris punctured it. The good news is it is ok to run it without the exhaust bellows, so you'll be alright with a hole in it like that until you get to your other maintenance items.

 

[mrbill812]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

Hi SkyDive, the bellows was replaced end of season 2011 boat is stored indoors always. I've read you can run these with a hole in the bellows, but a gash that size???? I'm still new to volvo pentas, always delt with mercruiser alpha drives in the past. If the shop can't fix it in time and it is safe to operate in this condition, I was thinking to wrap some gorilla tape (high quality duct tape) around the gash to hold things together until I get back. I just don't want to ruin my boat!

thanks,
mrbill

 

[calvinator]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

The exhaust bellow is there to muffle the exhaust sound and to direct into your outdrive and out the prop. Makes exhaust noise quiet.

a) leave it - fix it later.
b) DIY replace it with a Volvo Penta exhaust tube instead of bellow. The exhaust tube simply hose clamps onto the exhaust outlet on the transom side. The exhaust tube sells for $30.
c) there are some Youtube DIY videos on how to replace the bellow with a new bellow.

On my rig ther whole exhaust bellow was gone. I went with b).

 

[mrbill812]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

The exhaust bellow is there to muffle the exhaust sound and to direct into your outdrive and out the prop. Makes exhaust noise quiet.

a) leave it - fix it later.
b) DIY replace it with a Volvo Penta exhaust tube instead of bellow. The exhaust tube simply hose clamps onto the exhaust outlet on the transom side. The exhaust tube sells for $30.
c) there are some Youtube DIY videos on how to replace the bellow with a new bellow.

On my rig ther whole exhaust bellow was gone. I went with b).

Thanks Calvinator! I just got back from the boat shop, my mechanic said don't worry about it go have a blast on table rock lake and he would change it out when he does the gimbal inspection in July. I guess I freaked out for nothing, but I wasn't sure what this affected. You guys are a big help. I like the idea of an exhaust tube..... I'll check that out.

mrbill

 

[dypcdiver]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

BTW it can happen if you store it with the drive in the fully up position, it is quite tensioned that way, hence the advice to store it in the down position.

From the angle of the base of the pivot housing I suspect you don't have any stoppers in your trim cylinders which might just be the overall cause of your problem and could happen again.

 

[h2odick]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

I had the exact same thing happen to my new (as of last summer) exhaust bellows. The tearing on mine looks like it started on one of the pre-made "slits" in the bottom of the bellow, and then just kinda ripped/tore up the side in one direction. This happened earlier this year, so the bellow wasn't even 8 months old? I considered just replacing the bellow again, but think I might go with one of the exhaust tubes this time around if they make one for my application..

 

[mrbill812]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

BTW it can happen if you store it with the drive in the fully up position, it is quite tensioned that way, hence the advice to store it in the down position.

From the angle of the base of the pivot housing I suspect you don't have any stoppers in your trim cylinders which might just be the overall cause of your problem and could happen again.

diver are there stops missing or just out of adjustment? Thanks for your input.

mrbill

 

[skydiveD30571]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

Generally if trim cylinders have internal limiters to limit how much they can trim up, it's to prevent hitting structures like extended swim platforms. That are not necessary unless you have something like that above your drive. Staying trimmed up is harder on your bellows over extended time periods, but it doesn't hurt anything to trim all the way up for short time periods... i.e. trailering. It is designed that way.

 

[dypcdiver]

Re: big gash in my bellows, volvo penta sx drive Glastron Gx205 5.0l

SkydiveD30571 is correct the limiter fits round the piston rod inside the cylinder and bottoms out against the inside of the seal end cap.

I have just checked my exhaust bellows and I have 4 x 3mm round holes in the bellows, this is a genuine Volvo Penta part. I have seen several exhaust bellows where instead of round holes there are slots. They look as if someone has ground all the high ridges down to create the slots. I suspect that this version might be non OEM and that the slots are a good starting point for the tear problem you have. (Just my theory)

UPDATE Check out this VP service bulletin P-44-1-20
http://www.marinepartsexpress.com/V...4-1 N20 V01 Exhaust Bellows.pdf