Bravo III leaking bellows, how to tell cause & age of hole

[skillman11]

My 2000 Sea Ray Sundeck 210 was hit on the port stern very hard, so that it separated the two halves across the stern and up the port side. Stayed in water overnight before trailered.<br /><br />Caused $12K in fiberglass & interior repair. <br /><br />When I started the motor 5 months later, the gimbal bearing made a noise that it had not made previously. There are only 190 hours on the boat. Shop took off lower unit and found rust everywhere. There is a leak in the bellows and they felt it was due to normal wear and tear. I keep the boat on a lift and the lower unit down. Had not inspected lower unit before this. <br /><br />I suspect the bellows was stretched during the hard impact and caused the tear. The steering wheel is off 1/4 turn to stb. They aligned motor which was only off "a little".<br /><br />If it was due to accident I would have the shop fix, if not I would repair.<br /><br />1)How to tell cause of tear age or stress?<br /><br />2)How to judge age of rust, if from last 5 months or longer?<br /><br />Sorry for the long post.

 

[Don S]

Re: Bravo III leaking bellows, how to tell cause & age of hole

Normally you don't see age or stres tears on Mercruser bellows in only 4 years of use.<br />

I suspect the bellows was stretched during the hard impact and caused the tear. The steering wheel is off 1/4 turn to stb.

If the drive was hit hard enough to damage the bellows, there would be other things broken that caused the bellows that much strain.<br /><br />Did your dealer actually find a tear in the bellows? Or did they just assume there was one.<br /><br />Is this the first time the drive has been off the boat since new?<br /><br />Are you in salt water or fresh water?

 

[skillman11]

Re: Bravo III leaking bellows, how to tell cause & age of hole

This is the first time that the drive has been off.<br /><br />It is in fresh water.<br /><br />I am not sure if the dealer saw the tear or not. He said that it rubs against hoses and such that would cause the hole. <br /><br />I was assuming it was torn that caused water to be in the bellows.<br /><br />THere was extensive stress cracks along the upper port bow and in the stearn corners. <br /><br />Likely the only way to tell for sure is to pull the belows.

 

[Don S]

Re: Bravo III leaking bellows, how to tell cause & age of hole

This is the first time that the drive has been off.

Pulling the drive should be a yearly thing, along with checking for water or oil in the bellows, the gimbal bearing and ujoints the alignment should also be checked yearly.<br />

I am not sure if the dealer saw the tear or not. He said that it rubs against hoses and such that would cause the hole.

Every Mercruiser bellows rubs against the rubber hose, but it doesn't wear holes in the bellows in only 4 years. 6 or 8 maybe, but not 4. <br />

I was assuming it was torn that caused water to be in the bellows.<br />

If they found no tear, then something else may be wrong. Maybe a crack in something due to the impact? If the drive was never pulled after the accident and the wheel was off.......why wasn't the drive pulled and the transom shield and all inspected?<br />

They aligned motor which was only off "a little".

Was the drive pulled off when they checked the engine alignment, or do you mean the steering was aligned.<br /><br />From the sounds of it, you had more damage than you suspected and who ever did the work didn't check all that should have been checked at the time, and how about after all the structural repairs. I think you should be calling your insurance people back.

 

[tommays]

Re: Bravo III leaking bellows, how to tell cause & age of hole

S<br />They aligned motor which was only off "a little".<br /><br /> how did they do this without removeing the drive as its the only way you can aligne it and any damage to the rubber or rust would have show at that time<br /><br />i think thats a tough call the drive should have been removed and the motor alliment checked as part of the repiar <br /><br /><br />the sun is really hard on rubbber parts and you have a lot of it in texas???<br /><br />i dont think anybody can really tell how long its been rusting

 

[skillman11]

Re: Bravo III leaking bellows, how to tell cause & age of hole

Thank you for your inputs.<br /><br />The Mercruiser Mechanic took the drive off to see all the rust and I asked them to align the drive since that is one thing I do not have a tool for.<br /><br />They have not seen the tear, tehy would have to put in another 3 hours of work (at $85/hr) to inspect the bellows and potentially determine the cause.<br /><br />I have ordered a workshop manual and am awaiting it's arival. I have the time and am considering removing the gimbal and bellows myself to save the $$. I am fairly mechanical, is that something that a shadetree mechanic can do? If it takes them 3 hours it would probably take me 8.<br /><br />I have called my inusrance company - progressive - but have not heard back.

 

[paulrfrancisco]

Re: Bravo III leaking bellows, how to tell cause & age of hole

I'd get the insurance co. involved for a follow up inspection.. BEFORE any more work or repiars are done... Let them tell the mechanic to provide an estimate and get the insurance to finish paying for the damages.. I think the tel tale is the crooked stearing wheel and the ruasted gimbal bearing... was straight before accident, now its not.. boat layed up for repair, so no other reason for crooked stearing wheel... etc...

 

[Doug Durako]

Re: Bravo III leaking bellows, how to tell cause & age of hole

First thing I would ask the insurance carrier is where they draw the line on totaling this boat. Your are at more than 50% of the ABOS blue book value now. A damaged drive is going to put you over 70 percent, which is a total loss in most cases. Have you had the work done on the fiberglass? I would take the insurance check, part out the boat, and buy another one just like it.<br /><br />Would you drive a car that had $12K in structural damage?<br /><br />Good luck!