well, found my leak

craigswardmtb

It will make sense Ras when you start to build it. 

rasbury

Ah  sweet- probably the two up rights at an angle make it stronger..  I'm going to get started on this pretty quick...

rasbury

OK, something I meant to ask about this that is really bugging me...I finally found my leak while sitting at the dock, or at least the area it is coming in from. It seems to be for sure a bellows leak as I could feel the water coming down the transom from inside the transom ring. So, I assume the U joint bellows while at dock is above the water so it probably is not there. Likewise the foot water pickup hose and connections are above the water line so probably not there. So, if my reading the manual understandings are correct, then it would have to be the shift cable bellows that is bad or the one that the gimbal bearing sits inside of....is that also the exhaust? I would be thinking that hot exhaust does not go through a rubber bellows, where is that connection? Is that a third area to consider for the leaking?

aero3113

The gimbal bearing is in the same area as the U joint (Upper Bellows) and the exhaust is the lower bellows.

aero3113

The shift cable bellows is a small one on the right side of the housing, total of 3 bellows.

zaverin1

shift bellow is a number one cause of boats taking on water 
long story short there is only two you have to worry about
shift and main input shaft bellow
Hole in the exhaust bellow will now make your boat take on water

rasbury

So if the input shaft bellows is above the water line sitting at the dock and the exhaust bellows will not leak into the boat, should I not then be able to see the tare in the little shift bellows? Can't really tell for sure if the u joint bellows is under water at dock or not so I'm assuming there. 

zaverin1

Well they are all on the outside of the boat
so you would have to be on blocks or trailer
easiest way to tell is to trim the drive all the way into trailer pos and look for dry rot
you can also push on them to see how brittle they are.
to answer your question all below are bellow the water line

rasbury

Hmmmm...i have it on a trailer and have been looking as best I can- they are very playable and nothing visable....must be on the input shaft/ I joint bellows that I can't see...just did the coupler so you think they would have inspected and seen this, or they did it when they put the drive back on, that a possibility?

zaverin1

If not properly sealed yes or old reused gaskets used
maybe they just  did the coupler and that was it
drive comes off and engine then either moved or taken out 
all rubbers stay put

aero3113

You can try and tighten your worm clamps on the bellows,maybe that will help.

rasbury

I did check the clamps I could get at...maybe when I get the drive off and all the bellows I will see where it was leaking  even if a bellows is not torn
 I will start a new thread starting with building the stand and then begging for help! Maybe I should do a go fund me account and get some fools to pay me do it!

Willhound

  "us fools" also already all own our own money pits......I mean boats.... 

randy56

A boat is a great way to get rid of money.

Handymans342

Hahahahahahhaha

Dream_Inn

randy56 said:

A boat is a great way to get rid of money.

Willhound said:

  "us fools" also already all own our own money pits......I mean boats.... 

Boy you both hit it the nail square on the head!  & I just keep paying.  After my latest spending, today I paid the boat insurance too.  But, I was smart enough not to pay the "Fraud" USCG documentation paper that just came in.  (maybe I need to start another topic on it so others don't do it)

zaverin1

You do realize what you see with drive in trailer pos is what u will see with drive off

Glassguy54

Websters, "Boat" noun. Def; " A hole in the water that you throw money into."

rasbury

@zaverin1 well that is my concern! I don't see any rates in the bellows.

rasbury

Kit shows 3 bellows plus the shift cable boot so I'm not seeing the u joint bellows am I? What the neck is the other one?

zaverin1

Third is the slip for the exhaust
i had my alpha drives updated to slip exhaust tube vs bellow

rasbury

I need to look back at the manual but I'm seeing the exhaust and the shift cable, not the u joint correct? So if the u joint bellows is the culprit then I can't inspect it on the trailer with the drive on....

zaverin1

Well it's the top one
its hard to see

rasbury

and it is behind the top of the drive and does not pivot, correct? I'm so confused..I need to look at the manual before it gets worse.

zaverin1

It does pivot up and down
side to side with your drive 

zaverin1

When you pull the drive off it will all
come to you 

Cableguy Greg

The u-joint bellows for the B3 part number is 8M0062406. The shift bellows part number is 18-2753-2 (I believe this one is Sierra) and a new shift cable is 865437A02. I just had to pull my drive and bell housing after it was just put on because of a small cut in the oil line. Just when I was ready to launch this was found.

rasbury

So  guessing it is the I joint bellows I can't see leaking..who knows.  I hush up until I'm ready to get started. I see all sorts of kits online varying in price...i don't see serial numbers or years for the parts at a quick look...i would think you have at least a range of years?

zaverin1

My rinker brother
if you want to attempt this yourself then remove the drive yourself 
it's easy to do just a heavy drive.
or pay a pro to do it

Cableguy Greg

If you go to the Mercury Parts Finder site, plug in your drive serial number, it will give you all of the part numbers. https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/parts-and-accessories/parts-catalog

Take the part numbers and plug them into google. You will find everything. In the first view, part 8 is the U-joint bellows and the bottom view, part 24 is the shift bellows.