Oil Leaking From U-Joint Bellow

[Ron3207]

A friend and I, who know absoultely nothing about boats, have been trying to get a 1985 Bayliner going. It has a Volvo Penta 125AQ Engine. After about two weeks worth of repairs (Plugs, distributor cap, battery, Exhaust bellow, Throttle cable, coil, coil wire, etc) we thought we were ready for lake. We put the drive in vat of water and ran it. We noticed that it is dripping oil from the upper bellow (U-joint bellow). Could someone please advise us what could cause this problem?

 

[Don S]

Re: Oil Leaking From U-Joint Bellow

You have a hole in the ujoint bellows. They should be water tight. Rule of thumb is to change them every other year. If they go bad and water gets into the primary shaft bearings, you have to pull the engine to replace the bearings.
Since you have oil, things have rusted and the front seal in the drive is leaking, and must be replaced before you loose your outdrive, and you don't want to go there without a lot of $$$$ in your pocket.

Might want to visit this thread for a lot of useful info.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=2360521#post2360521

 

[Ron3207]

Re: Oil Leaking From U-Joint Bellow

Don, thank you so much for the info. From what I have read thus far, my friend and I might be capable of replacing the upper bellow. Is the seal something that we could possibly do as well, or will this require someone with much more experience than us?

 

[Don S]

Re: Oil Leaking From U-Joint Bellow

Since I have no clue what your abilities are, it's impossible for me to answer.
You have the manual now, read it and see if you think you can do it. The manual does make it sound easier than it really is. Messing up the shims is something that will destroy the drive.

 

[Ron3207]

Re: Oil Leaking From U-Joint Bellow

Pulled the out drive and found about a three inch tear in the upper bellow. The u joints are rusted. How can you tell or is there a test to see if the primary shaft bearings are bad? The manual does not have anhthing listed as a front seal. Is this the seal that is in the actual outdrive or is this the seal on the boat side of the shaft which connects to the engine?

 

[Don S]

Re: Oil Leaking From U-Joint Bellow

Pull the rear seal out of the primary shaft housing. If the grease is milky, water got in and you need to replace them.

The seal leaking the gear lube has to be coming form the outdrive, right?????

 

[Ron3207]

Re: Oil Leaking From U-Joint Bellow

When we removed the bellow it was full of oil. It originally appeared to be from the drive, but know looking at it it appears to be coming from both sides (engine side and drive side.) The oil from the drive when we drained it was milky, however the oil from the bellow did not appear to be milky at all and looked like engine oil.

 

[keithc81]

Re: Oil Leaking From U-Joint Bellow

When we removed the bellow it was full of oil. It originally appeared to be from the drive, but know looking at it it appears to be coming from both sides (engine side and drive side.) The oil from the drive when we drained it was milky, however the oil from the bellow did not appear to be milky at all and looked like engine oil.

The oil in the outdrive is the same type as the engine. It would be pretty unlikely that you would be getting oil from the engine as it would have to be leaking enough to fill the flywheel housing before it would make it past the primary shaft into the drive bellow. If you had that much oil in the flywheel cover you would probably see it leaking at the engine as well. If you are not familiar with upper drives your best bet would be to take it a shop and have it resealed and new u-joints done at the same time.