Re: overheating and bellows just replaced....
its also weird cause I had ZERO water getting into my bilge so im not sure if really that much water was getting into the ujoint bellows. I even left the boat in the lake over night and not a change in how much water was in the boat.
I will hookup my air compressor to the water inlet line on low pressure and disconnect the line from the engine and make sure nothing got stuck in the pipe some how. Anyone disagree with this?
Suggestion! If you have disassembled or removed housing, then a lot of work is complete. I highly suggest taking housing to reliable shop to have crappy studs removed, or the jury-rigged repairs that you perform now will remain in the back of your mind, and if anything bad comes out of the repairs, you will kick yourself in the butt. I have been in your shoes before and kicked myself in the butt later on. I sense that you are trying to save a few $$. So do I, but fortunately I, now, have my shop at disposal. I currently have 2 alpha 1, Gen IIs V8s but all my studs were/are bias steel and no anode cap. But, as others have implied or remarked, boat mfg may have put in slightly older OD for your year of boat or perhaps some previous owner repaired what your are repairing again. My 86 SR had the same setup with alum/anode caps. I replaced with ss studs/bolts because the aluminum crap disintegrated when I had to replace y pipe seal and also make other repairs. Install other anodes' in place of these but put somewhere else. My humble opinion that this was a bad design. Yet, if you do replace all studs with steel, coat with good primer, preferably zinkchromate (if you can get it). I looked for ss but couldn't find odd length /threads. I didn't want to custom build 8 studs.
I'd be extremely MORE concerned at water intrusion and resolving this issue. I believe that your mechanic or someone screwed up and put incorrect billows in housing. Perhaps not?????? Easy to check! My 86 SR used big ss hose clamps to secure both billows ends. My current boat's billows which is indeed alpha 1 Gen IIs is supposed to require 1 hose clamp and 1 compression ring for each billows, and the billows are different than just Alpha's. An alum. ring secures the billows to the upper OD and required a special tool to install. Yet, the billows is suppose to have a moulded male ridge that fits into upper's OD's female grove for Gen IIs. I believe that the person who last performed maintenance, installed a non-ridged billows and cemented it in place and installed aluminum ring. "Physics" tells me that the female grove in the Gen IIs upper was designed for billows male "RIDGE." I performed maintenance on one drive last year and replace all rubber. I replaced the other one this year because I had to remove and replace motor. While removed, I also rebuilt transom and completely overhauled gimbal housing and replace ALL rubber. This specific OD did have a little rust on U joints. It was a another headache waiting to happen had I not found screw up. I suspect same happened to you, and your U-joint seals were overcome by water and the crap got into upper OD. Remember that one "aw-****" WILL wipe out fifty "at-a-boys!
