transom leak

[Rick Stephens]

I'd consider a bead of 4200 on the seal itself, and not around the transom.

 

[alldodge]

I'd consider a bead of 4200 on the seal itself, and not around the transom.

Agree that won't hurt, but if your (the OP) transom is within spec for flatness, and new transom gasket and some bellows adhesive and your good. Could check flatness with a straight edge (steel, level, ect) and feeler gauge

 

[scoflaw]

I'd consider a bead of 4200 on the seal itself, and not around the transom.

Absolutely, at his stage in the game. I'm talkin bead around the transom if you don't tear the whole thing down.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Absolutely, at his stage in the game. I'm talkin bead around the transom if you don't tear the whole thing down.

It is already torn all the way down.

 

[scoflaw]

It is already torn all the way down.

I was talking about the next guy who has a leak. As suggested test the transom first. Jumping on the leg, drilling test holes first.

 

[rickasbury]

I could have done, that, and maybe should have - I did put a ring around it to confirm the seal was leaking. I did jump up and down on the out drive and did not see any flex. I don't know how I could have drilled any holes close enough to the key hole to confirm if I had a rot issue or not. What I could not do was put the boat back in the water with a temporary fix- I would have been worried about it when we spent the night on the boat for sure and just over all would not have been comfortable. We have a lot of gators here in FL! Even with all the problems I had tearing it down, and I"m not done yet, I'm glad I did tear it down and know for sure what I'm dealing with. Maybe with more experience I would not have.

 

[rickasbury]

The bolds are free! I did heat with the mag torch and used my impact wrench with one of the Irwin stripped bolt head removal tools and they came right out.....So...what next? I have to replace the water pick up tube.....I will have to replace the trim sensors. Also, one of the power trim hoses I hit with a cutter, not sure how deep it goes and if it will hold pressure and I sure don't want to have to take the motor back out to fix that....also, I guess it is the mercathode box on the bottom of the gimbal, well that did not come apart nicely. Should I be able to get to all of this without removing the bell housing? Not sure how those inner trim hoses connect to the manifold, will look in the parts manual but don't know I will get much info from there. I have the bolts off that hold the manifold to the gimbal but nothing wants to budge...

 

[Rick Stephens]

Personally, I would disassemble and start from bare Gimbal housing and transom plate and build up with fresh rubber. I guess that depends on how old the rubber is. But even if the rubber parts are good, I'd still disassemble and make everything perfect as I went. There are parts, like threading new trim sensors, that are easy to do with the bell housing out of the way and hard as hell to do with it in place. Same with shift cable. Be nice while in there to consider a new upper steering shaft seal.

 

[rickasbury]

I did replace all the rubber and shift cable when I first dove into this thinking that was my leak and had no idea if they had ever been changed. New bearing installed also. I did not replace the pick up tube ( and see I should have). The trim worked fine before I took it all apart, must have done something to the sensors in the process I guess as it would not work (out drive went up and down, sensors did not, nothing on the gage and went all the way up and all the way down.) Not sure how to test them, the coving for the wires is peeling off so I just figured at this point I should just replace. Those dang what ever you call them holding the bell housing, I could not get those to budge but maybe with my impact I can get them....thx. Then I can get to the trim sensor wires and the water tube....we will see....how about those lower trim hoses...that plate should come off it looks like and then undo those hoses? Looks like about 120 bucks worth of hoses....will check ebay.

 

[alldodge]

The piece holding the trim lines is called a manifold. It does come off, but won't come all the way off without removing the lines inside. Need to get it low enough to get at the lines just on the other side

 

[rickasbury]

that's what I figured...will go take a look...had to take a little nap!

 

[rickasbury]

got it lose, had bought flare nut tools but looks like these are metric and not SAE.....hope I can exchange them!

 

[alldodge]

Everything else should be SAE, I would keep them

 

[rickasbury]

ah crap, just swapped out! those are the only things i have seen...10 bucks for a set if i need sae...

 

[rickasbury]

so, good progress I suppose....did get the manifold off, had to cut one of the lines, the one I was going to replace anyway and it is stuck in the manifold and it rounded off even with the flare nut wrench.....I guess good thing about brass is it does not rust, bad thing is it's not very hard. So, will soak it, heat it and do all over again.

I did clean up most of the rust on the lower end of the gimbal where the seal is....does not look as bad as I thought. I will have to pull the bell housing off to get to the water tube and the trim sensor wires...so, just will plan on taking it all apart, cleaning and painting where the rust was. Suppose there is never stopping the corrosion once it starts, all I can do is hope to make it last a few years. I'm 60 so....how long does it have to last. I'd love to drop 4500 bucks on a new assembly but that is just not going to happen. Have some medical stuff to deal with next week, seems like always something going on but will get back to it as I can and keep it going!

 

[alldodge]

A brand new transom assembly from BAM (dealer) is $2695

Found in OSO classifieds all brand new
HP assembly for $2300 (better but no trim senders)
A Magnum for $2212
A Seacore for $2506

Could probably find a used one for under $800

 

[rickasbury]

yes, but would probably have to rebuild, new bellows and shift cable....steering pin and seal...etc....guess I have an 800 one now?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Might post pics of the corrosion. Usually not a bad job to clean them up and repaint. I hear you on buying another one, however, all your new parts can come right off and go onto another bell n gimbal housing.

 

[rickasbury]

Rick- the point I was trying to make was that if I buy another used one and rebuild it, I'll probably be right where I am at now- might as well rebuild the one I have now. A new one would be a grand from what I see, just not sure that I really gain anything. Once I get it apart and cleaned up, before I paint it I will post some pics. I wire brushed most of the corrosion yesterday- probably what will remain as the worst will be the two lower studs that go through the transom.Hopefully if I can keep everything dry I will get many more years before any issue might come back which could happen to any transom assembly.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Rick- the point I was trying to make was that if I buy another used one and rebuild it, I'll probably be right where I am at now- might as well rebuild the one I have now. A new one would be a grand from what I see, just not sure that I really gain anything. Once I get it apart and cleaned up, before I paint it I will post some pics. I wire brushed most of the corrosion yesterday- probably what will remain as the worst will be the two lower studs that go through the transom.Hopefully if I can keep everything dry I will get many more years before any issue might come back which could happen to any transom assembly.

When I did my swap, I bought all new bolts and studs to go through the transom. I saw the same thing as you, they seem to take the most damage from a small amount of water. The bottom bolts were carriage style and aluminum, so I replaced those and the rubber gaskets that go on the outside. Even with new gaskets for those two bolts, considering the huge amount of corrosion those bolts showed, I used 4200 to completely seal up any and all space around the lower two bolts where they went through the bottom of the transom.