Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

[fatcity94]

I have a 1996 Maxum 3.0 Alpha one Gen II, that I purchased a month ago. Two days after purchasing, I discovered the engine block had a crack about 3/4 inch below the cylinder head. I did not discover the crack until I removed the exhausted manifold. Thanks to this forum I was able diagnose the problem w/i 72 hrs of purchase and the owner gave me half my money back. I have repaired the crack with JB weld and so far it seems to work fine. Now however I noticed that water is leaking by the flywheel area. The water seems to be leaking from a small sheet metal inspection plate b/t the engine and the bell housing. I have seen cars leak oil from this location and it is usually due to a leaky main seal. I am leaking water here. I have read some posting and believe it is either a leaking U-joint bellow or the engine freeze plug. Hopefully it is not another crack in the block. I think one person posted that they believe this part of the engine has freeze plugs? It is leaking at a rate of about 1-2 drops per second. I have also noticed a slight medium pitch whining from upper stern drive. It almost sounds like a muffled electric fuel pump. The boat was not winterized and left outside. It dipped down to 0 degrees with the boat outside. The cracked that I epoxies was about at least 6 inches long. Plz offer any suggestion.

 

[jeff13601]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

You are probably going to have to pull the motor and remove the housing. There are freeze plugs there or maybe it is another crack

 

[fatcity94]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

JJR,<br /><br /> OK....thanks. So you think there is a greatly probability that it's the motor vs the u-joint bellow? That is good news, since I was planning on replacing the motor anyway. At least I'll have a nice boat once I put a new engine in it. This is better then replacing the engine and then having to rebuild the transcom. I looked at my bellows this morning and the exhauste bellow is completely torn in half. What problem will result from this being torn?

 

[tommays]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

if its the u-joint bellows you wil have water damage to the gimble bearing ,u-joints and the u-joint yoke in the sealing area<br /><br />if you luckey water has not gotten into the drive yet <br /><br />i would drain the drive oil and see how it looks (milky=water)<br /><br /><br />if you put your mouse over tha links on page 4 this is the drive service manual<br /><br /> http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/14/14notice.pdf <br /><br />this is a motor manual<br /><br /><br /> http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/13/13covr2.pdf <br /><br /><br />tommays

 

[fatcity94]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

I drained my gear oil tonight and got brownish to blackish oil. No milk! I filled up a 32oz and a 16 oz up. So 48 oz total. I used my wifes measuring cup last time I did something like this and got in big trouble, so I figured I would improvise this time. <br /><br />1)I put the new oil in the resovoir located in the engine compatment ...correct?<br /><br />2)is 48 oz about the right amount?<br /><br />3)Judgeing from this alone, my outdrive is probably ok and I just have a blown freeze plug on the block b/h the flywheel?<br /><br />4)I called Checker and they said that they have an assortment of freeze plugs in all sizes and in all material. Will one of these work for my marine engine?<br /><br />You Guys have great advise<br />thanks<br /><br />Kevin

 

[flashback]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

hey sparky, if you put the boat in the water and don't run the engine, does it still get water in the bilge? if it does, then you probably have a bellows leak. if not, then most likely a core plug or cracked block.. if you replace the core plug, it should be brass....good luck.....

 

[fatcity94]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

That is a good way to isolate. I'm already planning on removing the engine tonight or tomorrow, so I will probably continue on that path. I wish I would have had your wisdom while I was at the lake last weekend, because I could have isolated then. Oh well, I will let you know what I find when I remove the engins. Harbor Freight has a massive Cherry Picker for $149.00. I am picking it up tonight. This should give me the 4-5 Ft clearance I need to get the engine over the hull. <br /><br />Kevin

 

[tommays]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

how did you fill the oil ? your supposed to pump it in from the lower unit drain until it reaches the vent in the upper <br /><br />tommays

 

[dhoptay]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

hey i had the same kind of whine you described turned out to be my gimbal bearing. water was leaking in the drive bellows. only had two small crack in the bellows real hard to find. look close. good luck

 

[fatcity94]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

I have not filled the oil yet, But I will make sure I pump it from the bottom until it reaches the oil vent. I hope my gimbal bearing is OK, dhoptay has me worried. <br /><br />1)I set up the engine crane I bought at Harbor Freight. It is going to be close, but I think it will clear the hull. Do I have to remove the outdrive first?<br /><br />2)The link to the PDF Tommays gave me seems to be just the first couple of pages. I guess it's probably a copy right infringment to post the whole manual? Do you have a link to a place that sell the manual at a reasonable price. <br /><br />3)Do I need to buy the alignment tool? If I mark a line around my motor mounts on the inside of the hull of the boat, isn't this an OK method for making sure I mount the engine in the same location?<br /><br />4) I am glad I keep checking this forum, because I would probably have filled the stearn drive oil by filling the resovoir. Working on boats definetly different then working on cars. Thank for the help everbody

 

[tommays]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

1. yes pull the drive<br /><br />2. the links to the sections of the manual do work but you need to play with were you click<br /><br />3. yes <br /><br />4. the place is great i went to a marine trade school in 1973-74 and did not work on boats since 1975 so it really filled in the blanks on the things that changed<br /><br />tommays

 

[fatcity94]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

OK....I figured out how to use the PDF and I have read stuff on engine removal and also transom and gimbal bearing replacement. Looks like there is a sweet tool designed for Gimbal bearing replacement (91-31229A5). I am going to have my engine out, so can't I just bang the outter race of the bearing out from inside the boat. Doesn't appear to be a locking ring or anything else that holds it into place. I am thinking that while I have the engine out, it would be a good preventive maint on my part to replace the bearing. In my case the bearing could be bad. I inspected the bellows, and with the exception of the exhauste bellow they all look great. That fact combined with the no "Milk in the oil" equals a high probability that my U-joint is OK. I think water from the engine may have traveled through the couple to the Gimbal bearing. I didn't run the boat more then an hour after noticing the leak, so maybe a little water got on the Gimbal and not the rest of the stuff. Tommays, what are you thoughts on giving me your number and letting me call you if I get stuck. Hell, I would even be willing to send you a little $ for spending time giving me advise. <br /><br />KP

 

[tommays]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

 

[tommays]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

i wish a had that kind of free time <br /><br /> http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=010458#000000 <br /><br /><br />you will know were the water came from when you pull the drive<br />

<br />if it doesent look this something outside has a leak <br /><br />there are other ways it can leak into the bellows shift cable,shift shaft seals, bad gasket were outdrive mounts ect <br /><br />no matter how they look if there orginal 1996 there gone <br /><br />tommays

 

[fatcity94]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

OK....I took everything apart last night<br /><br />The freeze plug was so loose that I think I could have pulled it out with my finger. It was actually touching the flywheel and that was the only thing holding it into place. <br /><br />There was water in my U-joint bellow, about 3 tablespoons. The boot looks perfect, the rubber is soft and there are no cracks. The Gimbal bearing feels like a cheep rollerskate. The York however is tight. Not sure how this happens since everyone has told me that if you get water in there all goes to hell. <br /><br />I think what happened is that This boat was exposed to some extreme cold with no winterizing. Cold enough to put a 6 inch crack in the block. I think that when I repaired the block it increased the preasure on the freeze plug enough to pop it up (already hanging by a thread_. There must have been so much water in the flywheel area that it filled all the way up to the coupler and leaked to the Gimbal. <br /><br />Question now is what do I do? Replacing the U-joint bellow looks like a lot of work and mine looks fine. So why replace it? The Gimbal looks easy to replace with a slide hammer and a 3 jaw prong. <br /><br />Do I need to by a kit, or can I buy just by the bearing? I also need the tool to pound it back into place. If anyone has a link where I can buy both of these, that would be appreciated.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

You will also need an alignment tool...JI f the bellows look good leave 'em....J

 

[tommays]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

no matter how they look if there orginal 1996 there gone

i will quote myself the rubber is at the end of its expected life <br /><br />it looks like from what your saying the drive has not gotten damaged.<br /><br />if you let the rubber fail its going to cost 1000 to 2000 dollars VS a PITA job and 150 dollars in parts <br /><br />you should also change your upper shift seals and do a full water pump kit<br /><br />

<br />these are shift seals and a water pump seal they look fine until you get things apart allowing them to fail will cause dammage<br /><br />also these are 1995 parts only 1 year older than yours theres no way they would have lasted 1 more season<br /><br /><br />your much better of just fixing everything correctly now while its not a problem just read through all the post here about the dammage a leaking bellows does<br /><br />you bought a boat that was on the deferred maintance plan (which is pretty normal) now you have to bring it up to date<br /><br />tommays

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

Tommays is absoultely right! I didn't see the part about 'original'. They are at the end of their life and should be changed. You might think about changing the lower shift cable too..J

 

[fatcity94]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

I am not sure if the parts are original or not.<br />Do you guys have the kit number, links etc. to the kits that I need? <br /><br />I got the special weld rod 770 in the mail, so I will be welding the cracked block tonight. Maybe I will post a PIC when I am done. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[fatcity94]

Re: Leaking water between block and Bellhousing

The welding did not turn out quit as good as I had hoped for. I am going to ground it down again tonight and try increasing the ARC a little. Hope no one gets upset about me not creating a seperate thread for this. <br /><br /><br />