Volvo exhaust bellows

[Robj]

Hello there,

I am in the process of re-installing my outdrive. The hinge pins are in as well as the drive bellows and the raw water hose. Cannot get the exhaust bellows on. The bellow is already installed onto the transom shield, but I cannot get it onto the outdrive. Am I missing something? Does anyone have any suggestions? The drive is a Volvo Penta SP.

Thanx for your help. Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

What model drive?????????

 

[Robj]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

Hello Don,

It is a Volvo SP drive with an AQ 131 engine. Should I be installing the bellow onto the outdrive first and then the transom shield? Can't seem to get the darn thing on the way I am doing it.

Thanx for your help and suggestions.

Rob.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

I'm going to assume you have a new bellows there, which really makes them a bit harder to do.
First of all, bend the hose clam into an oval shape and make sure it's loose enough and in the proper location on the bellows.
Then put some grease on the bellows where it slides over the drive.
Best not to have the pins in the trim cylinders so you can lift the drive and do NOT attach the helmut.
Now, lift the drive enough to get the top of the bellows onto the drive. Let the drive down, and slowly turn the drive left and right, while poking and prodding the bellows, and pulling with some needle nose pliers..... Gently so you don't rip the bellow or poke a hole in it.
Once the ridge in the bellows pops into the groove of the drive, you can raise the drive a little so you can tighten the clamp. Don't lift it too high, or it will pop off.

 

[Robj]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

Thanx Don,

So I guess I was on the right track. Will try as you suggested, but they sure are a pain to install. I just thought there may be an easier way that I was unaware of. Time to get back to work.

Thanx again and have a great day,

Rob.

 

[Robj]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

Still not having any luck, any other suggestions??? There isn't any room for pliers. Even the manual says to put on the drive bellows, raw water hose, and then the exhaust bellows. Just a little frustrated.

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[Robj]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

Well got up early and went to work on that darn exhaust bellows. I removed it from the transom shield, put the outdrive end on and then put it onto the transom shield. Was a pain but I managed to get it on, even invented a few not so nice words along the way.

I must admit that I am new to outdrives, but pretty good at pulling wrenches. Have worked on numerous cars, outboards and even heavy equipment. Learning as I go with these outdrives. Anyways being the maintenance conscous person that I am, I decided to grease the nipples on the outdrive. There was one nipple that I could not get, but it has been greased in the past. Start looking around, I must be missing something. Anyways I found this locking mechanism, release it, lift up the outdrive, and easy access to my grease nipple, and what do you know, the exhaust bellows is right there, easy access. If I would have figured this out earlier, or the manual would have shown it, I would have saved many hours of frustration trying to install that darn bellows. Oh well I guess I learned the hard way. At least my exhaust bellows saga has a happy ending, even if it made me look really stupid along the way.

The end.

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

See, there you go, had you given me the proper model number of your drive, I could have told you that.
When you said you had an SP model on a 131, I took that as meaning a model SP-A drive used on the AQ131D models that doesn't have the lockdown mechanism. The lock mechanism is on the 275 thru 290 models. And if you have power trim that would be the 290 model with trim AND the lockdown. The 290 is sometimes called an SP drive in the owners and service manuals, but that is only meaning it's a SP/Single Prop not the DP/DuoProp.

Now you see why I get so picky about accurate model number.

 

[Robj]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

Thanx Don,

This has been a learning experience for me. So my drive is actually a 290? I just bought this project and am slowly nearing completion. Next time I know, I have a SP 290 drive.

Thanx again for all your help

Rob.

 

[Robj]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

Don,

Now that you know what drive I have, does it still take engine oil in the outdrive? A while back you told me that the drive takes engine oil not gear oil. Is this still true? Not used to putting engine oil into an outdrive, have always used gear oil.

Thanx again and have a great day,

Rob.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo exhaust bellows

Yes, engine oil in your drive.