Oil in u-joint bellows, probably the yoke seal, should it be me or the marina?

[rhillman75]

Just as the title says. I found drive oil in my u-joint bellows when going to do maintenance before the year starts. I have the part number for the "seal kit", but I am hesitant about the procedure. I see you have to have a couple of special tools that will run about $100.00 alone. I am very mechanically inclined, so I am tempted. My questions is, is it worth it to buy the tools and the parts versus taking just the upper to the marina and having them fix it? I guess the ultimate question is cost effectiveness? My next boat will be late 2013 and hopefully bought new with warranty, so I could have another set of tools I don't need. What is the avrage costs to have the upper serviced when it is already removed?

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Oil in u-joint bellows, probably the yoke seal, should it be me or the marina?

My questions is, is it worth it to buy the tools and the parts versus taking just the upper to the marina and having them fix it? I guess the ultimate question is cost effectiveness? What is the avrage costs to have the upper serviced when it is already removed?

Can vary greatly depending on your part of the country and the shop rates.

Here in SoCal you can get a mobile guy for $70 an hour or take it to a Merc. dealer at up to $120 an hour.

Some may even have restrictions on whether you can even bring in "bench work" or need to bring it in attached to the boat so they can do everything.

Check around in your area and see what they say the charges would be and what's included.

Mark

 

[dubs283]

Re: Oil in u-joint bellows, probably the yoke seal, should it be me or the marina?

the only special/merc specific tool you need is the retainer wrench

everything else can be accomplished with regular hand tools you can buy locally and an OEM manual

it is a job you can do yourself no prob, just gonna take a little time

a shop is gonna sell ya on a complete reseal, water pump, and if necessary any bellows/transom assy work that is needed or looks questionable - this is all work that you can do yourself, it takes a few more special tools, but nothing too out of hand

figure the flat rates quoted above for 3-5 hrs plus parts for upper reseal

this is why pulling the drive is recommended to do during winterizing, that way when you find things like this you have all winter to fix em

 

[Don S]

Re: Oil in u-joint bellows, probably the yoke seal, should it be me or the marina?

After removing the drive, here are the procedures for replacing the front seal and the yoke (if needed) read through them and see determine if you have the abilities, you are the only one that can do that.
This info came from the OEM serevice manual, I just put it in order to make it easier to understand.

View attachment Front seal replace.pdf