Leak in transom area

[Nuggets55]

Hi,

I was hoping someone might be able to help me narrow down this leak I have.
The boat is a 2000 Regal LSR 18 with a 3.0 Mercruiser LX, alpha one gen 2.

I bought the boat last year, and did not notice the leak until halfway thru summer it might have been there before but might not have, I saw it after I changed the shift bellow which had a rip in it. I am pretty confident the new shift bellow is good but would not bet my life on it. Obviously the leak in the video is much bigger than a shift bellow leak in my opinion.

The leak in the video is when the leg is fully up, when the leg is down, the leak goes to barely noticeable. Maybe a cup of water in 4hrs with the leg down, none the less I am trying to take care of the boat and would assume there should be no water coming in.

I tried tipping the boat up on the trailer and putting water in the bilge, but I think the leak is higher up and this wouldn't work that well. After this was done I noticed water coming out the leg hole where the muffs go but that is normal right?

Appreciate the help guys!

 

[ScottinAZ]

if one of the bellows was bad, chances are the other two werent in the best of shape either. Since raising/lowering the drive affects the rate of flow, I would be sure and check the u-joint bellows VERY closely.

 

[savery]

Oddball thing to check - the trim manifold. I say this because it doesn't look like any water is coming down from above, but rather up from the pocket where the hydraulic lines go down to the manifold. Since the hoses connect from the manifold to the rams, the angle of the rams can impart force on this piece. Check for fastener tightness and the condition of the gasket.

Here's a video showing how this piece goes together.

 

[Nuggets55]

Thanks for the ideas.

I took trim anode off and checked all fasteners they were tight. I didn't remove bottom piece that holds the lines as I don't have a gasket but it looked fine. It would not be gushing out like the video via gasket.

I took a good look at the bellows again and they appear fine. The only thing I see is possibly the water hose connection looks squished at the connection.

 

[Bt Doctur]

First, pull the drive and check the main bellow. Other than that it could be the exaust pipe leaking that low

 

[Grub54891]

I didn't remove bottom piece that holds the lines as I don't have a gasket but it looked fine. It would not be gushing out like the video via gasket.

Just because it looks fine from the outside don't mean its good. Thats like saying my carb looks fine so it must be good. Mine leaked from the trim manifold, the gasket looked ok but upon unbolting, it did have a rip in the gasket. And yes pull the drive as suggested, if there is water in the bellow, you will lose the u-joints if not caught early enough.