New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Fordiesel69 · May 16, 2011

The four winns in my sig just got new bellows, water hose, shift cable, gimbal bearing, and new outdrive gasket. When I back the boat into the water I can hear and see water filling up the bilge from the transom housing somehere. It is so cramped I cannot see exactly where. Trust me it is not from the front of the boat, it trickles in the transom housing.

It will NOT leak water when running on muffs. Any prone area's the cobra is known to leak from? Is there any area for repair without pulling the engine?

Fordiesel69 · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Anyone?

Joshua Nichols · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Prone to leak?? Mine don't!
Transom seal?? exhaust pipe seal?? o ring for the cable tube??

Could be anything.. You could maybe put some water in the bilge.. See if you can find a leak from the outside..
There are a lot of holes in a I/O.. Then those hole have other holes.. You should know this.. You have a stable of I/O..

rickryder · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Josh has the right idea filling the bilge to see where the water leaks out.....or put it in the water and use a digital camera to shoot some pics below to see if you can find the leak. Good luck and let us know what you find.

Fordiesel69 · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Joshua Nichols said:
Prone to leak?? Mine don't!
Transom seal?? exhaust pipe seal?? o ring for the cable tube??

Could be anything.. You could maybe put some water in the bilge.. See if you can find a leak from the outside..
There are a lot of holes in a I/O.. Then those hole have other holes.. You should know this.. You have a stable of I/O..

My mercs don't leak though..........................

Joshua Nichols · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Fordiesel69 said:
My mercs don't leak though..........................

Plenty of others do, if ya don't believe me go check the merc forum.. It's not that there is some design flaw in either drive.. It's just a part failure or lack of maintenance..

Could be the transom is rotten.. Bet ya didn't want to hear those words:redface:.. That's a pretty nice sized boat and it is not uncommon for someone to want wet slip it. It can't be fun to launch. A Nice little leak left over time will cause the wood core to rot..

I am sure you checked it out real good before you bought it.. I remember when you was looking at it..

Fordiesel69 · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

I filled it up to the bottom of starter motor, nothing......... I don;t want water up any further as the starter looks like a royal PITA to R&R.

Joshua Nichols · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

starter looks like a royal PITA to R&R.

Yep not fun at all

Didn't you have someone replace the bellows and such for ya? Bad repair work from a shop? Wouldn't be the first time I have heard that nightmare.. Going to send you a PM..
Well I thought I was going to send you a PM.. Can't... You need to clear out some old messages first..

Don S · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Empty the bilge, back the boat in the water, and use your digital camera.
Is the transom rotten?

Fordiesel69 · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

PM's cleaned up. Ok to send now....

Fordiesel69 · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Mechanic that did the bellows is going to use a camera scope to find the leak. After which we beleive the engine will need yanked. From there it can only get worse.

Stanp1 · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

What about the hose for your shifter cable inside the boat. The fitting could have rusted out, or the hose is so old it came apart at the clamp. That hose is my worst nightmare since the only way to replace it is to yank the engine. I have a 4.3 cobra, 1989 vintage.

Fordiesel69 · May 17, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

I hope it is that simple!!!!!!!!!!!! Really!!

Pulling an engine is nuttin' compared to having a new transom put in, which is probably just my luck.

Fordiesel69 · May 20, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Ok, got the bad news today. It is the steering shaft seal. Mechanic claimed it is a rare failure and the pin the contacts the seal gets corroded and caused the seal to fail. Engine has to come out. $1000 labor + parts. Worth it or not?

Fordiesel69 · May 20, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Anyone have opinions on this?

Joshua Nichols · May 20, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Opinion?? As in should ya get it fixed... Of course less you like taking on water..

I am unsure which seal we are talking about.. Maybe someone else will know if you gotta remove the engine.. If you trust your mechanic not to burn you down.. Fix it..

donberry · May 21, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

I had quite a bit of water coming into my transom. While I am not sure if the outdrive gasket was the culprit or not, I did find that around the drain plug had quite a bit of water damage and have no doubt water was coming in through that.
Bright side for me was that was the only part of the transom that was "bad" so i repaired it without having to rip out the whole transom.

Maybe just something you want to check. For mine, I could be wrong, but the drain did not go all the way through the transom. So when water did get in the boat, while it did drain out, the area of wood exposed to the water rotted out over the years, allowing water to now come in the boat.
Really surprised they did not treat those areas with anything. Same with the cutout for the outdrive. Pretty much just bare wood so any leaks have an opportunity to do quite a bit of harm. Don't know if it will help, but i coated them with fiberglass resin, hopefully creating at least a small barrier if I get another leak.

Fordiesel69 · May 21, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Joshua Nichols said:
Opinion?? As in should ya get it fixed... Of course less you like taking on water..

I am unsure which seal we are talking about.. Maybe someone else will know if you gotta remove the engine.. If you trust your mechanic not to burn you down.. Fix it..

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/OMC/SternDrive/1988/574BMLGDP 1988/TRANSOM MOUNT/parts.html

#45 in the picture inserts into the housing and has some packing seals.

Joshua Nichols · May 22, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

Now why is he removing the engine? I may be wrong but that seems to be repairable with out a engine pull

.. Maybe he is doing other stuff you don't know about..

donberry · May 22, 2011

Re: New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

I am a newbie to having my own boat and repairing it, but I don't buy what the mechanic is selling.
I really doubt that is your problem
Actually, come to think of it, is this the same mechanic that installed your bellows ? Hmmmm, surely he didn't not get the bellows seated correctly....just a thought

New bellows installed & STILL LEAKS WATER!!!!!!! What next?

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