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Liberty44140

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Handymans342

Are boats unreliable or what???

Liberty44140

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craigswardmtb

So they did the transom assembly and didn't replace or inspect the swivel shaft and seals?  Thats crazy to me. I bet the shaft is rusted. It's such a known issue they should have realized it. Especialky seeing they have to remove the pin to replace the transom assembly. Nothing like shoving an old rusty pin into an old seal. Are they merc certified techs?

craigswardmtb

Jr method would be significantly cheaper if you did the work. 

Liberty44140

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craigswardmtb

Oh wait I misread. Did they just do the bellows?  If so I wouldn't say they definitely should have caught the leak. I actually had the exact thing happen to me after a bellows change. I also felt they should have inspected the leak better. Maybe they'll give you a couple free hours of labor for having to pull the drives again and not charge you for the haul out. 
Was the reason you had the bellows done because of a leak. 

Liberty44140

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pault1216

I had a similar issue with an Alpha drive some time ago. Occasional leak thru the top swivel seal and some slop in the steering. My mechanic said it was more of a nuisance than necessity on the short term before a repair. I doubt it would leak more than the pumps could handle and that you would likely be ok until a fall repair. Good luck. -Paul

reneechris14

I two Crack the housing in the fall by over tighting (missing 0 ring)
Tuff call on the swivel pin after the boats out of the water for 4 months.but I do agree they should help you out with labor and haul out. I would go the Jr Marine route.
I go in tomorrow morning got my fingers crossed as did the same repair.

jme097

I would definitely monitor the leak which I am sure you will. If you can get by for the season without doing another haul out and tear down I would definitely try it. Terrible feeling though for sure

summerx

mine were just done last week.  I found the leak mid summer and finished the season out.  I am on a lift, so not a big issue, but bilge would kick on daily when out.
it isn't a cheap service, that's for sure.

Ian

I just did my swivel pin due to play on the port drive and made sure I replaced this seal. Given its a PITA to do the pin, doing a transom kit wouldn't expect the seal to get done.

craigswardmtb

On your boat Is the transom glassed over at the top of the transom thus not allowing water into the actual transom wood as it leaks?

Liberty44140

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Dream_Inn

Sorry to hear that Liberty.  You'd hope they might catch it when in that area, but does not surprise me at all.  10 years old seems to be that magic number when you have to start replacing a lot of stuff.  I too had a leak (got my boat back yesterday) and ended up replacing both complete transom assemblies.  For the age boat, I decided in the long run it was best to just replace it all with new.  Less labor and hopefully more reliable (if there is such a thing with a boat).

Good luck and make sure you figure out where the leak is really coming from first.  It's possible it's the transom plate/assembly.

Liberty44140

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craigswardmtb

Yes I don't believe the top of my transom is glassed in on my 360. Its pretty tough to tell for sure though even when youre in there. You never have a good view even with the window cut in your gimbal housing. Perhaps @Alswagg will know for sure?

I bet you'll be fine for the season. 

Dream_Inn

Yes, I'll bet you'd be fine for the season.  You can at least monitor it as the season goes to see if things get worse.  I had found my leak last July and went thru the rest of the summer with it.  I kept it on the lift, so that helped ease my mind though when I was not there.  After it was in the water for a day or so, the worst it got was about one drip per second.

Liberty44140

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craigswardmtb

The problem is they would never know it was leaking unless you actually brought it in for them to check for leaks.  They cannot tell when changing the bellows from outside the boat.  I sure wish they could, or would ask the question given its a known failure point on Bravos.

Liberty44140

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Liberty44140

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skennelly

Guys...what do you think the warrant period should be on a steering seal fix.  At the beginning of last season I had it done and I think I see water coming from it again.

skennelly

I had the gimbal ring replaced along with bellows and gimbal bearing and upper shaft

craigswardmtb

Imo they did something wrong if it's leaking again after one season of use. It's a PIA to seat the seal correctly. They may have buggered the seal during installation or they didn't torque the u bolt and you have movement that caused seal failure. 
Did they replace the actual swivel shaft? If they put a corroded shaft back into a fresh seal that would do it too. 

skennelly

Not sure what the swivel shaft is exactly.  They said they replaced the upper shaft because it was corroded badly.  I need to confirm that's indeed still leaking and the contact yard that did it.  It's a slow leak so I expect to be fine through the season.

craigswardmtb

Yep the upper shaft is the main swivel pin. There is an upper and lower. If it's leaking with a new seal and shaft they did something wrong. 

skennelly

Great.  I don't think I put 25 hours on and last year I still had water in the bilge after the fix but didn't even think about it being the steering seal since it was just FIXED.  I hope they treat me right.

Liberty44140

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Willhound

Well that fix just got waayyyy less expensive!