water in pre-alpha outdrive

[flashback]

thought I would see if any of you good folks had any Ideas on where it came from. the boat is on a trailer and the drive has been in the full down position for over a month and I thought all the water would have been out of it. I took the drive off today and when i separated it from the gimbal, I got about a teaspoon full of water out of the starboard side. my best guess was that it came from the shift cavity. could it have gotten in around the cable boot? I just replaced it about 2 years ago but maybe its loose.. got any Ideas?

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: water in pre-alpha outdrive

Where exactly did you find the water????Was there any corrosiom or rust near the water you found?Was it inside the bellows or by the shifter????What did the ujoints and shaft look like????These answers will help isolate where it came from.Charlie

 

[flashback]

Re: water in pre-alpha outdrive

Hey charlie, how ya doin. standing behind the drive, the water came out of the joint where the drive mates to the gimbal. no water in the bellows, just grease and the u-joints seem ok but I may replace them anyway... I basicly brought the drive home to do some service on it as I won,t need the boat for a few months..

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: water in pre-alpha outdrive

I dont want to be wrong but you may not have a problem.If you are capable of changing the shift bellows you may as well do the cable too.you cant go wrong doing any type of prev. maintenance.The main bellows sounds like it is not the problem because you would have plenty of water and there would be some in the bellows area.Check each fold carefully in both bellows if you are not going to replace anything.If you see any cracking at all ,even if they are tiny cracks-REPLACE THEM.As I said you cant go wrong with P.M. Charlie