transom leak

[rickasbury]

So far as I know, yes.....I had a mirror and looked at the swivel steering pin and there is for sure some corrosion, but can imagine the amount of water I have coming in is from there....I inspected the speedo connection, the trim wires- tomorrow hopefully will give me some insight for where to water is coming in at.....

 

[rickasbury]

so how do I get that cover off just to clean things up a bit?

 

[rickasbury]

and if the wires go through, water might also!

 

[alldodge]

so how do I get that cover off just to clean things up a bit?

I would use an impact screw drive with a hex socket on it. Try loosen a tad, and if it doesn't budge, tighten, then reverse. If you have a drill driver use it but be real easy so you don't snap the studs.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Just to be more clear, the exhaust comes down the Y pipe, goes through the transom splitting to the bleed ports and the exhaust bellows which plugs into the lower part of the bellhousing. This is underwater, so everything from then on is unsealed. There are huge gaps behind the shift shaft and at the propeller as well as where the upper and lower split. If the engine is running, then at speed exhaust takes the path of least resistance and most comes out the prop. The rest of the time it may only make it out the relief ports. If you have a Y-pipe leak, a shift bellow leak, or a hydraulic manifold leak (at the cathode, there is a gasket) then water will come in only very low down on the transom plate, not up high.

If up high, then some of your thinking should include whether you see water when not running. There are several high up passageways through the transom for water line, wires to trim sensors and steering pinion. You also can get water through the main u-joint bellows, so that is usually the first thing to rule out. Takes 15 minutes to pull the leg and see if there is water sitting in the bellows.

Last item is the transom seal. And that conversation has been pretty well worn out. You know the whats and wherefores. If you are going to stick a bead of silicon all the way around, don't do any other changes before you back in or you won't know what you are looking at. Only one test at time or you won't know which was the fix.

 

[scoflaw]

The 2 bolts you have already removed from the mecathode are the only thing that holds it on. The 2 wires are a very snug fit through the grommet but the mecathode will pull down a couple of inches with some force.

If the swivel pin seal is wiped out it can let in plenty of water.

 

[rickasbury]

Thanks Rick for the explanation of the exhaust as have not had a foot apart and did think it was more of a "controlled" outlet and I could seal it. And by the way, I'm leaking without the motor running so it is a transom leak and not a hose or something. I did replace all the bellows thinking that was my problem and those seals seem to be holding. I did inspect yesterday the speedometer part which "looks fine", it is not cracked. I got a better look at the steering swivel pin top inside the transom with a mirror and I do see some corrosion but I don't see any trail of water marks or anything and will get a better look at that as well as where the trim wires and the water tube come through the top. I did attempt to seal up the foot real well- will be interesting to see how that did and I did run the bead around the gimbal ring- also the water exhaust on the sides of the gimbal. My plan is to back it in the water and see if it leaks- if it does not, I will undo what I did to seal the drive and see if it leaks or leaks more as a result. I did run it at home with muffs assuming if I had a leak at the Y pipe, it would leak into the boat. I assume, if possible, the leak is only at the part where the exhaust comes through, or, just because there is no external water pressure against the pipe sitting on land, this may not be a 100% test. Will be at the ramp later today and I'm really curious as to what I find!

 

[garbageguy]

Interesting story and thread, some good info here. Looking forward to see what you learn from your test. Please post some pics if you can

 

[rickasbury]

Well, got my answer and I suppose, more questions. First, I put the boat in the water- I have the bead around the gimbal ring and have the lower unit bagged and taped up everywhere I can see to put tape- know this would not hold or hold long, figured it would get me through the test. Duct tape works pretty good for this. So, put the boat in the water, jump back there and there is so much water coming in..nice thing about this forum is I don't have to face anyone. I did not have the plug in! I did that once probably 30 years ago if not more. Anyway, fixed that and back in the water. I have leaking but not to the extent I had before. So, I pulled the boat up and removed all the tape and such on the out drive and to be honest, hoping I would now see a lot of leaking. from that Y pipe but I did not. I did have a little drip through the connection for the speedo- keep in mind the tube is broken off on the inside and on the out side, I have a screw in the tubing and a wire tie around that so I don't understand why it would be dripping but that is certainly minor in the game.

Backing up a bit, the dripping from the speedo tube was the main reason I pulled the drive and did the bearing and all the bellows. I did not know at the time that's where a little drip was coming from. I did not have huge amounts coming in and even a slow and steady drip can amount to enough water to trip the bilge pump over night. It does add up. I did not have the amount of water coming in that I have now or before at least I put that sealant around the gimbal. Now then, I had a heck of a time getting the bearing out. I broke the mercruiser tool, stripped the threads right off of it. Then, I went to auto zone and used a slide hammer and really whaled on it to finally get the bearing out. I have heard other comment about having to pull the motor to knock a bearing out. Is it possible, and I know anything is possible, is it likely that I bent the gimbal knocking that bearing out? So now, I'm looking at pulling the motor which I don't have a hoist to do myself to get to the gimbal/transom and see what is going on. Not a happy camper here this afternoon....sigh....

 

[alldodge]

If there was no leak prior to replacing the gimbal bearing, then the housing could have been cracked trying to remove.

If its from the transom being soft, this can be determined by using a screw driver and pushing in from the inside of the hull. If it moves its soft.

Can also take a drill bit an slightly drill into the transom from the inside to see if damp/wet wood is found

 

[Rick Stephens]

You might get a friend to stand on the outdrive and bounce up and down a bit while you observe. See if you can see the gimbal housing moving and or the transom itself flexing. These are sure indicators of wood problems inside. And not too worry about hurting anything doing that. The outdrive can take every bit of horsepower your motor produces at the end of the long lever that is prop to transom. A little up and down bouncing/standing on it will do nothing bad to the drive.

Many members of this forum have made up a crossbeam to hang a chain hoist off of. There are loads of ways to do it depending on your space availability. I'm betting you can figure out how to pull a motor. You my not even need to remove it all the way from the boat if your deck is such you can move it forward and set it on something while you work in back.

 

[rickasbury]

I had no significant leak prior to doing the bellows and knocking that bearing out.....sounding like I created my own problem while trying to do the proper maintenance on the boat- I don't know if the bellows and bearing had ever been changed. The boat only showed 100 hours on it when I bought it 4 years ago so I would think not......I could fashion a beam to pull/move the motor but this is a 27' boat on a trailer and your probably looking at a min of 12' to get a bean to clear the boat- will have to give this some thought. I 'd guess the motor at around 800 lbs.. I do not however give up easy!

Thanks for all the input so far....I will update when I figure out what I'm doing next.

 

[LX Kid]

I recently went thru finding a leak and was told "your transom is the problem." Well it wasn't the transom leaking, it was the "Y" tube which had rotted thru on the bottom. With out a mirror laying under the Y tube it would have never been seen.

Don't know if your y tube is same as mine but the two circles indicate the corroded thru "underneath" and leaking. Leak was especially noticeable when the outdrive was raised.

I meant mention that I used an oak tree limb and chain hoist to remove the motor.

 

[rickasbury]

Thanks :LX kid - mine is similar and I did some testing that I'm sure you read above- I messed up one thing on my test as I blocked of where the water exits the motor and I did not un block that when I took all the stuff off the out drive- I did not mention it as I'm going to do that tomorrow and was not expecting any better result. Hearing what your problem was, might well be the water side of the exhaust Y pipe and that might be my problem, lord I hope so...this is my last test before I have to assume either the transom is bad or something happened to the gimbal ring/plate when I knocked out the gimbal bearing. As mentioned, leak was 10x worse after the repair than when I started so I don't see the repair connecting to the Y pipe but who knows at this point!

 

[alldodge]

Yours being a 2005 yours won't look like the pic in post 53. Yours is all one piece like this one

and uses a single O ring which looks like this

 

[rickasbury]

Yep Alldodge, have looked at it in the manual but that gives a much better view than the manual or what I was able to google. So, I was able to block off the return holes very well as opposed to the exhaust (which I was trying to test the water going back into the boat through the exhaust exits). So, tomorrow, I will unplug that area and dunk the boat as I can see clearly if the rust out/rot is on the two water ports, the exhaust may well not leak water while they could. I doubt it but possible for sure. Also, that pipe is steel, would there be dissimilar metal issues there that would cause either the bolts or the steel to rust out? It did not leak when I ran on the muffs but there is no real pressure there- I figure it would leak some as there is no real pressure there and I don't expect the results I'm looking for but hey, worth a shot!

 

[alldodge]

Over time it could rust out but it should take much longer then 12 years, unless your in salt water but your not. I have a 23 year old boat with original exhaust and its solid. Removed the Y pipe from my other 24 year old boat and it to is solid and sitting on a shelf in my shop.

I keep going back to you saying the water comes in higher up, so unless its running down the exhaust pipe, that's not it. I lean more to your upper steering pin, shift boot or crack in the gimbal housing

 

[Rick Stephens]

What pipe is steel? The Y pipe is cast aluminum.

 

[rickasbury]

ah, thought it was cast steel.....risers also?

 

[rickasbury]

and for what ever reason, I do not see it running in from higher any longer- I pulled the speedo connection apart and put it back on- now it is a drip so maybe that is where it was coming from.....will re dunk again. It for sure was not steering pin the last time I put it in, I looked there specifically- once I had everything sealed up as described above, other than a little drip through the speedo connection ( which should not be), was not leaking anywhere. Going back through it. May have to remove all the gunk I put around the gimbal ring to confirm I still have a leak!