bellows not connected

[Andyman]

Hello to all. I recently bought a 1999, 5.0L, EFI, Mercruiser with a bravo 3. All this is new to me and I'm hoping someone can help me out. The seller tells me that the exhaust bellows is not connected because he didn't have the tool necessary. He claims that it is not a big deal, just louder. Is it safe to run the boat for the next couple of weeks in that condition? (boat is in water) Also the boat was sitting for a while. (at least a year) When replacing the fuel filter, there was water in it. Can I check the filter every couple of hours and empty the filter or is that a bad idea? I will probably be asking simple questions for a while because I've never even been around an I/O before. Thanks, Andy

 

[Trent]

Re: bellows not connected

Its not going to hurt to run it without the bellows. Check your filter/separator every few hours and drain.

 

[Andyman]

Re: bellows not connected

Thanks Trent. Now I'll dig further into the boat to find out what else I don't know. Should be a gold mine of mysteries for me.

 

[Texan_Ron]

Re: bellows not connected

andy make sure to check the other bellows after sitting with the stern drive up could cause cracks remember be safe then sorry later

 

[granpafish]

Re: bellows not connected

 

[Andyman]

Re: bellows not connected

Thanks for the heads up, Ron. He said that the outdrive was off and stored in a garage for the last year, so that should be OK. I'll have someone with I/O experience look at the bellows to see if they need replacement when I pull the boat in a couple of weeks.