MR-1 U Joint Bellows Leak

[bbook83]

My 1974 140 Mercruiser had water entering the bilge from the rear of the engine. With the boat up out of the water on our boat lift, I had my son get in the currently very cold N. Idaho water to inspect the bellows with the drive full up. He said the big hose clamp on the U Joints bellows was loose at the gimbal housing end and he proceeded to attempt to tighten it, but in the process, loosened it more, to the point that the clamp worm gear screwed out of the track on the band of the clamp. I got in and examined and I think I may be able to get the clamp screws back together. If I can’t, is it realistic to run the boat without the clamp the 15 minutes or so to the launch to haul it out, relying only upon the bellows adhesive to keep the bellows somewhat in place without causing major damage or sinking the boat? If I can get a big zip tie around the bellows end, perhaps that may help. Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[dubs283]

Running the boat won't have any more effect on damage as just sitting static without a clamp in place

Bellows adhesive is used as much as an aid in installation and corrosion prevention as it is for actual adhesion. The clamp provides a majority of the sealing/attaching of the bellows

If you're really scared have the boat towed to the ramp or paddle it but either way leaving the boat in the water and speculating on the best way to get to the ramp is not a good idea. Boat should have been out of the water as soon as the issue was noted

 

[Scott Danforth]

make sure your bilge pump works

get the boat on plane to get the bellows out of the water on your trip back to the ramp.

its going to leak like a sieve.

 

[Alumarine]

Also, make sure the boat trailer is at the ramp and in the water ready to put the boat on.

 

[ScottinAZ]

I would do whatever I could to try and ensure the bellows doesn’t pop loose on the trip, be it zip ties (sketchy, but should work) or fishing a new clamp in there. It may be cold water and a PITA, but so is sinking or flooding out the boat….. at least it’s on a hoist, and not in the water ATM….

 

[bbook83]

All good advice. The boat came out of the water on the lift as soon as I noticed the leak and remains there. The bilge pump can handle the leak as it existed when I put the boat on the lift and I will try to get the clamp back on or a zip tie around the bellows. It is good to get confirmation of my guess that the adhesive is more related to installation. Per Murphy’s law, I was about to pull the boat out of the water due to a stalling problem after 10 minutes or so of running, so it may not run on plane all the way to the launch. I will have a “chase boat” follow along to tow if necessary.

All part of the fun of running a 49 year old boat, but she is a classic Jolly Roger ski boat I have owned since new and my grandkids would be very disappointed if they could not take rides in it.

I will let you all know how it goes.

 

[bbook83]

All good advice. The boat came out of the water on the lift as soon as I noticed the leak and remains there. The bilge pump can handle the leak as it existed when I put the boat on the lift and I will try to get the clamp back on or a zip tie around the bellows. It is good to get confirmation of my guess that the adhesive is more related to installation. Per Murphy’s law, I was about to pull the boat out of the water due to a stalling problem after 10 minutes or so of running, so it may not run on plane all the way to the launch. I will have a “chase boat” follow along to tow if necessary.

All part of the fun of running a 49 year old boat, but she is a classic Jolly Roger ski boat I have owned since new and my grandkids would be very disappointed if they could not take rides in it.

I will let you all know how it goes.

So, I got the clamp back firmly on the bellows with no visible leaks during the trip to the launch, although my lchase boat did have to tow me the last mile because of the stalling problem. I finally got help to pull the drive and inspect today. There was a small amount of water laying between the ribs inside the bellows. I pumped grease into the gimbal bearing and the u-joints and pushed a few drops of water out of them. A new gimbal bearing will be in order, hopefully not till the end of summer.

I failed to put the shift into forward when I removed the drive. I did shift to forward after pulling the drive and matched the cable end to the arm on the gimbal housing, but need to match the drive receiving lever to it. Can anybody tell me the angle of that lever while in forward when looking from the stern toward the gimbal housing?

 

[ScottinAZ]

shifter should be straight fore/aft when in forward gear, this allows it to slide right together.

 

[bbook83]

Thanks Scott. The shifter lever was straight forward and the receiving lever on the unit slid right in. Looking up from the bottom, the engaged shifters are at 12:00 in forward and 2:00 in neutral, although the propeller is locked clockwise in both forward and neutral. It will not go into reverse, appearing to be trying to move toward 3:00. I assume reverse would be at about 10:00. I probably need to pull the drive back again, but I lost my “muscle” helper for the day. Can anyone help with how to get the shifting right?

 

[bbook83]

I got my muscle helper back and pulled the drive back out and discovered that the lever and roller on the gimbal housing was not engaged properly in the receiving end on the cable.

Not an easy task to get it right, but I managed to engage those two as my helper pushed the drive into the bell housing. Now, prop locks when rotating it counterclockwise while in forward and clockwise while in reverse, which is what I believe I have read on this forum in the past. The true test will be in the water, but I would appreciate it if anyone could validate that the prop rotation should lock as I have described.

 

[Scott06]

I got my muscle helper back and pulled the drive back out and discovered that the lever and roller on the gimbal housing was not engaged properly in the receiving end on the cable.

Not an easy task to get it right, but I managed to engage those two as my helper pushed the drive into the bell housing. Now, prop locks when rotating it counterclockwise while in forward and clockwise while in reverse, which is what I believe I have read on this forum in the past. The true test will be in the water, but I would appreciate it if anyone could validate that the prop rotation should lock as I have described.

Your rotation and locking is correct u should have no issue now.

 

[bbook83]

Your rotation and locking is correct u should have no issue now.

Thanks, Scott06. Nice to get confirmation from an expert.