Re: Mercruiser transom boots?
bottom bellows, is exhaust and some cooling water exit to/through the prop.. You will not damage anything by running it like that, but I would definately look closely with a good light at the condition of the little shift cable bellows and Upper U-joint Bellows ( you definately dont want water in there ) and holes in either will get water into the boat.
FYI the lower Bellows on OMC Cobras have HOLEs along the entire bottom and you can get a SHORTY Rubber Boot for some Mercruiser Drives. No noticeable performance loss as far as I know either. ( mine isn't connected to the drive side )