Nasty bellow!!

[KerrLake]

Not to be confused with nasty fellow......I took my drive off as my 1st part of removing the engine and found a mess. I just got the boat last year, so I don't have a "reliable" history of it. I was told the bellows was replaced last summer. Now it looks like I have a leaking seal on top of a water leak. What damage should I look for other than the bad seal? The U joint seems tight.

Brian

[Pismo]

Always replace the transom/gimbal bearing when this happens. It has gotten very wet and is dead or will be dead soon so replace it now. Cheap, easy job anyway. U-Joints seem to survive this problem in my experience but transom bearings do not, just grease U Joints a lot. This is not a big deal, just replace those bellows and you're set to go. At least you caught it before the boat sank.

[oldandtired]

Check the bellows for cracks for starters. They usually start on the bottom, in the valleys. I usually just try to poke my fingers into the valleys or use a light to do this. Check you gimbal bearing. It should turn smoothly. The bearing itself does not look bad in the photo, but that doesn't mean much. Check your seal between the drive and bellhousing. If the bellows was not installed properly, it will not seal (wonder how I know that!). I usually use sealant on that face as an extra measure to avoid any leaks. Check your drive lube for level and color. I can't tell if the goo in there is oil or grease mixed with water. If it's grease then you probably had water get through the bellows and mix with the grease. If it drive lube, then you need to check out your drive. It could just need an upper seal or worse. Lastly, from the picture, it looks like the splines on the coupler are pretty worn. How is the input shaft to the drive?

Also, what kind of grease was used on the gimbal bearing. If it was some kind of white grease, maybe there's nothing to worry about.

Just my .02

Rene

[Pismo]

Yes, always check engine alignment when you have the drive off.