little water leak on alpha 1 inside transom

[Eaglenva]

i have developed a leak at the transom. i have not narrowed it down to where yet. my thinking is the shift cable boot.

as long as i am in there i may replace the water hose also. how difficult are these rubber boots to replace? i have pulled the outdrive off, pulled the engine for a rebuild, and replaced both this spring/summer. i did not have the leak before pulling but do now. it is only a small trickle stream like a cup every few minutes but too much to ignore. i have tru hull exhaust so it should not be that. so it should only be the shifter or water supply, correct? if the gasket on the outdrive did not seal will that let water in? it does not want to seat properly on the little thin area on the starboard side, it shoves it out most of the way.

thanks!

 

[Acer2428]

i have developed a leak at the transom. i have not narrowed it down to where yet. my thinking is the shift cable boot.

as long as i am in there i may replace the water hose also. how difficult are these rubber boots to replace? i have pulled the outdrive off, pulled the engine for a rebuild, and replaced both this spring/summer. i did not have the leak before pulling but do now. it is only a small trickle stream like a cup every few minutes but too much to ignore. i have tru hull exhaust so it should not be that. so it should only be the shifter or water supply, correct? if the gasket on the outdrive did not seal will that let water in? it does not want to seat properly on the little thin area on the starboard side, it shoves it out most of the way.

thanks!

That's a big 10-4, buddy.

 

[remlinger]

If you are having a leak at the boots thru the transom act on it quickly. I replace both shift cable, and shaft boot a year ago myself. Afterwards I had a small un-noticable leak which this season lead me to spend $2,400 to have the total transom plate rebuilt. Spun bearrings and rotted U joints.

The boots are a pain to replace. You are working in a really limited amount of space. If I would have spent the 400-800 to have someone do the job first I would not have spent as much this year.

 

[Eaglenva]

cool, thanks folks. i will pull it off and make it seal and see if that resolves it. if not i guess off to the shop.

 

[daren34]

get a flashlight and see if you can tell where the water is comong in

the shift cable is real low on the drivers side

if it is up between the steering arm and the drive shaft
it is the shaft bellows

either way it is not a job for the weak at heart

a shop will charge 300 to 500 to raplace all of the hoses and bellows
shaft exaust shift and the water hose
and a new gimbal bearing
comes in a kit

i have done mine but i will pay someone next time

it is almost easies to pull the transom plate off of the boat and change everything on the bench
but that would mean pulling the motor again

good luck

it could be the gasket for the drive if the drive does not seal then you get water in the bellows
daren

 

[gchildre]

Outdrive to Transom...

On my old Stingray I had a small squirting leak around the outdrive gasket, I just ran a very small bead of clear silicone around the outside of the outdrive to the transom and the leak went away. I stored it in a High & Dry so I never ended up fixing it properly before I sold it.

 

[happy]

dang darren the parts cost that much.. and how in the world are you gonna get that dang water inlet hose in?? i'm fast, but i cant change all the bellows, and water inlet hose in a couple of hours.. i think the 3 -500 is a way bit low.. i've done this 20 years.. and i can change u joints, gimbal brng, bellows and a shift cable in less than an hour.. but your still getting charged book time..

get a flashlight and see if you can tell where the water is comong in

the shift cable is real low on the drivers side

if it is up between the steering arm and the drive shaft
it is the shaft bellows

either way it is not a job for the weak at heart

a shop will charge 300 to 500 to raplace all of the hoses and bellows
shaft exaust shift and the water hose
and a new gimbal bearing
comes in a kit

i have done mine but i will pay someone next time

it is almost easies to pull the transom plate off of the boat and change everything on the bench
but that would mean pulling the motor again

good luck

it could be the gasket for the drive if the drive does not seal then you get water in the bellows
daren

 

[remlinger]

Parts and labor with out bearings estimated a year ago at 800.00, One year later with every thing as mention above 2400.00. How that sound happy?

 

[daren34]

look in your sierra catalog

comes as a kit

if you paid 2400 for bellows wow

most shops are not charging 150 per hour

daren

 

[daren34]

Parts and labor with out bearings estimated a year ago at 800.00, One year later with every thing as mention above 2400.00.

sorry i did not read your other post first
i does not take much water to ruin the gimbal bearing

i run waterproof grease in mine and in the u-joints just in case

daren

 

[smallblockford]

flat rate on the bellows would be 3 hours. i have done it in under one hour with shift cable on a good day. if you do the bellows do them on a warm day and put em in the sun before you start makes em a little eaiser. i have been certified for over 14 yrs know.

 

[daren34]

oreilly auto parts has sierra marine parts catalog

you have to ask for it and get them to go look for it but they have it

most stuff they can get overnight

if your going to do it yourself

mike @ marine sevice specialist in greenville texas will replace all threebellows and the water hose and the gimbal bearing for less than $500.00
and only kept the boat for a week.

daren

 

[Big Red]

Sierra parts are junk after market parts only use MERC. parts. If you pulled your engine and drive before you can fix this problem yourself. Do the work yourself that way you know its done right.

 

[smallblockford]

i am a certified mechanic and a dealer. here is what it should be really close to havent looked up the parts in a little while. and i agree seira parts are junk 99 percent of the time and there bellows are really thin and cheep you will be doing the job over soon.

shift bellows 35$
drive shaft bellows 70$
gimbal bearing 70$
shift cable 70$
dont have to do exhast bellows doesnt let water in and would waist your money but you can get the original for 39$ or a new stile that is easy to put on for about 70$
labor should be about 300$ oh and you need a stearn drive gasket.
I forget what the hose cost but it isnt that much
hell i will sell you the parts and shipem to ya if every one is gauging that bad
and yes they are merc parts the seira bellow are thin and just not the same they actually go on eaiser than mercs but they dont last.

 

[Lakeside Restorations]

look in your sierra catalog

comes as a kit

if you paid 2400 for bellows wow

most shops are not charging 150 per hour

daren

If the trim senders, hoses, bearing, u joints, bellows & shift cable was replaced then more labor & materials does sound in order. However For 2400 I would thiing that they must have done quite a bit more than that. Possibly there was a lot of corrosion, or something else that wasnt mentioned to fix the problem.. Like was the boat towed, or did it sink & need to be pumped??

When we do a boat that has a bad u joint bellow it rarely gets anything other than the works (all boosts, water hose, shift cable, gimble bearing, trim sender kit).. We have found that usually at the point where one goes the others are not far behind due to age or wear & tear. I hate seeing customers come back because I could have taken care of 1 or 2 other things that could have been addressed now rather than waiting another couple months only to have the boat out of service again.. I wont say what I charge, but for that service to one drive it is not 2400.. Again I really have to think that something else was done for that $$..


BTW, we also use the oem parts Both merc & volvo.. In my opinion there is not enough price difference to justify it, even if there was, the quality of the Merc & volvo stuff I too feel is far superior. You usually get what you pay for. I only use aftermarket parts if i have to and dont have any other current option for a hard part replacment like the one in this discussion.

Jamie / Lakeside

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[remlinger]

If the trim senders, hoses, bearing, u joints, bellows & shift cable was replaced then more labor & materials does sound in order. However For 2400 I would thiing that they must have done quite a bit more than that. Possibly there was a lot of corrosion, or something else that wasnt mentioned to fix the problem.. Like was the boat towed, or did it sink & need to be pumped??

When we do a boat that has a bad u joint bellow it rarely gets anything other than the works (all boosts, water hose, shift cable, gimble bearing, trim sender kit).. We have found that usually at the point where one goes the others are not far behind due to age or wear & tear. I hate seeing customers come back because I could have taken care of 1 or 2 other things that could have been addressed now rather than waiting another couple months only to have the boat out of service again.. I wont say what I charge, but for that service to one drive it is not 2400.. Again I really have to think that something else was done for that $$..


BTW, we also use the oem parts Both merc & volvo.. In my opinion there is not enough price difference to justify it, even if there was, the quality of the Merc & volvo stuff I too feel is far superior. You usually get what you pay for. I only use aftermarket parts if i have to and dont have any other current option for a hard part replacment like the one in this discussion.

Jamie / Lakeside

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Jamie,

Heres what was done. Trim angle sending unit, bellows, seals, u-joints, gears, bearings, full tune up, shift cable, water hose, and the list went on for a little longer. I think the service hourly rate was around $75.

 

[Chris E]

Jamie,

Heres what was done. Trim angle sending unit, bellows, seals, u-joints, gears, bearings, full tune up, shift cable, water hose, and the list went on for a little longer. I think the service hourly rate was around $75.

if that was gears as well, then 2400 is a fair price. when i was in the business, a bellows job was an easy 1500 as we replaced everything back there - there wasn't any point in going half way. the boat would end up coming back. as long as the job was explained to the customer, it was rarely an issue.

 

[Lakeside Restorations]

Agreed.. I figured that something more had to be done than just a boot job.. Jamie / Lakeside


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