Unusual water leak

[Fishermark]

My dad just bought and installed a new SEI outdrive for his 1971 Searay. The boat has the inline 6 165 which I rebuilt for him - (and is working great! Thanks for asking ) The transom assembly is a Model 1 type and the old outdrive was giving him problems, so he bought the new complete SEI106 outdrive which replaces the Alpha model. (We made sure it has the correct, old style, short drive shaft).

Here's the problem. He just called me and said after installing the outdrive with a new gasket, o-ring, etc, he has a small but steady stream - like a pencil stream - of water coming out of the top of the bellhousing area - where the outdrive mates with the bellhousing - when the engine is running on muffs.

Here's a picture showing where it is leaking:

We have been running an alpha outdrive on this old style transom assembly for the last month or so with no problems. This is one we took off another boat. So there has been no history of any problems with any leaks in this area.

My first thought was that he let the o-ring slip out somehow when he installed it and suggested he pull it apart and check. He did so, and even bought a new gasket set. Same problem!

I have no clue what to suggest he do next as I've never seen one leak there. I told him the only other thing I could think of was a manufacturing defect / bad sealing area ... but I would think that would be somewhat obvious to the naked eye.

Anyone have any suggestions? (I've only talked to him on the phone about this issue, I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet).

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Unusual water leak

Hole in water inlet hose?......
Put the muffs on it & tilt it all the way up with the engine not running & look.......​

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Unusual water leak

Or a hole in the gimbal housing casting, put a garden hose in the inlet and see if it leaks anywhere.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Unusual water leak

that is odd.... the only thing i can think of is a 2 fold problem....

1. The water inlet passage on the gimbal is either missing its o ring, the o ring is misaligned, or the gimbal is terribly corroded.....
and 2. the sealing surface between the drive and gimble is bad... or you didn't use perfect seal or some gasket glue on assembly...

almost sounds like the bellows are filling up to the point your whizzing out of the weakest spot on the drive/gimbal... but you would surely be putting water in the boat as well.... soooo are you?

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Unusual water leak

Hole in water inlet hose?......
Put the muffs on it & tilt it all the way up with the engine not running & look.......​

That's a good idea - I will have him take a look. But the timing would certainly be unusual. It worked fine with the old outdrive.

Or a hole in the gimbal housing casting, put a garden hose in the inlet and see if it leaks anywhere.

When he takes the outdrive back off I will suggest he put the hose in the water passage in the gimbal housing and see what happens.

The water inlet passage on the gimbal is either missing its o ring, the o ring is misaligned,

That was my first thought and he said he pulled it off and the o ring was in place - well lubricated with grease. Since he had a new gasket kit anyway, he put another o-ring in place and tried it again - same issue.

or the gimbal is terribly corroded.....
and 2. the sealing surface between the drive and gimble is bad... or you didn't use perfect seal or some gasket glue on assembly...

The gimbal is clean as a whistle - no corrosion. Grease was used on the o-ring. Grease only the first time, (which is all I ever do). He glued it in place the second time with a little bellows adhesive, no difference.

Again, I haven't seen it yet myself - maybe I'll have a better understanding of what is going on once I see it. Till then I'm just describing what has been told me.

Thanks to all for the replies - if anyone has another thought or suggestion... feel free to share!!

 

[ziggy]

Re: Unusual water leak

man, bummer problem fm.
i read on a thread that dons had replied to. it regaurded water exiting the shift cable on the top side where it mounts to the shift plate. i believe the word was that if the shift shaft seal leaks, it can have enough pressure to force water up that far. kinda a long shot. but perhaps a shift shaft seal leak. forceing water up and around the nose of the drive, exiting via a slight imperfection in the gasket or seal area of the drive where ya have the leak appearing at...... like i said, a long shot. i've no idea if enough pressure exists for this to occur.... at the very least, i'd think the water connection at the drive to bellhousing, or the shift shaft seal surely must be the initial origin of the leak...... just guessing out loud......

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Unusual water leak

Quick update:
My dad called the tech at SEI and they agree it almost has to be a problem with the sealing surface in some shape or fashion. They said to bring the boat over and they will run it and help find the problem.

Stay tuned!

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Unusual water leak

Final verdict - just for future reference for anyone else experiencing this - it turned out to be a "bump" in the paint which caused a high spot - enough for the area around the o-ring to not seal properly. After they scraped down the high spot, it sealed fine.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Unusual water leak

cool ya found the issue. thanks for leting us know how it turned out. that's some pretty darn good service on sei's part........

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Unusual water leak

Yep. I'm glad to dole out a little praise when it's due. When he called this morning they went over some things with him on the phone and finally suggested he come by the shop. They took it off - diagnosed the problem - put it all back together. No charge. No problem. No hassle. (I sound like I work for them! ) THAT'S customer service. Hey - things happen with products - things don't always work like they're supposed to. When a company stands up and takes care of problems when they arise -- that's a company I will do business with again.

 

[2004SSI180]

Re: Unusual water leak

Or a hole in the gimbal housing casting, put a garden hose in the inlet and see if it leaks anywhere.

put the hose in what inlet?

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Unusual water leak

This is an old post from back in April....

 

[Don S]

Re: Unusual water leak

This is an old post from back in April....

It also shows Fisermark's Mercruiser leak, you have a Volvo. Stick with your problem and YOUR post about YOUR leak.