ok- time to get started on my bellows repair

frenchship

If you need the proper torque for the hinge pins let me know

rasbury

@frenchship I have the torque from the manual...100 I think...how is that lower shift cable routed? The way it came out I have no clue...im reading some go under a motor mount and then up around?

rasbury

Well, took all afternoon but I think I have the shift cable through to where I can route it- that sucked to say the least. Anyone trying this would remind you to get that heat shield off before pulling the cable out- everything went to heck when that got all jammed up when that got stuck. There is a pretty good post on another thread with the routing and a better explanation of how to use the old cable to pull the mew one through- should have been a 10 min job that has taken me several hours...maybe a moderator can pull that info into this thread.

rasbury

shift cable through, man is it hot down here right now....make a mental note all, do not visit FL in August! It's feels like temp over 100 degrees and the humidity is almost 100%...so it's hot. So shift cable is good, do the final adjustments when out drive is installed so I'm good there. Putting the bellows on now and notice the spring looking thing below in the picture? It came out of the u joint bellows, the new one does not have it and the manual, albeit probably not my set up, does not show it. What the heck is it? Also, the little metal clip, one goes on the u joint, two go on the exhaust....what do they do and is there any special means of installation? One is pictured off to the left...

Handymans342

What? Hot?  Its 93 here on the gulf side. 65 % humidity. Eating dinner on the water. Nice. 

rasbury

Yep, good to be on the west coast this time of the year...

rasbury

@Alswagg what is this piece that came out of the old u joint bellows? I see no reference to it anywhere on line??

rasbury

And I see the groove dies have a mating part on the bellows...what about the springy wire thing?

rasbury

Ok, so pretty good day...all the bellows are on, shift cable and oil hose attached. Realized there are bushings on the hinge pins, mine are coming apart...so stop for the day and pick up those I hope tomorrow! The wire piece I was concerned with is in the new one, just could not see it.

bry1429

rasbury said:

@Alswagg what is this piece that came out of the old u joint bellows? I see no reference to it anywhere on line??

Some bellows and or hoses have  wire reinforcement liners, its to help keep the shape and add strength, that may be what that is, it may have come undone. 

rasbury

Yep, that's what my buddy down the street said as well...all good!

rasbury

Good progress today..bell housing is on, all bellows connected. There was not much info on it, but, seemed to need a seal where the shift cable bolted down to the bell housing...i don't recall seeing anything but perhaps it fell out when I took it apart. So, I had a rubber flat washer I cut down and gooped it all down with perfect seal so that should do it. Also, had to buy hinge pin bushings- a fibrous type material, mine had come unraveled for lack of a better description.. The u joint bellows I worked on by hand. My buddy that lent me the tools did not give me a bellows tool which I needed for the exhaust. I had made one for another boat I had that worked well. Only thing I'm stuck on now is that ring that goes into the u joint- could not get it. So, I took a hard plastic cup, shoved it in the to stretch it out so will see if that helps tomorrow...if that works, ready to put the out drive on a splash!

Wildboating

Congrats Rasbury!!  This has been quite the project!

rasbury

That's a mouthful...

J3ff

Good thing you live in FL, more than half our season is done  up here!!

rasbury

So, perfect seal....when I mate the drive back up, is the perfect seal used sparingly or should I put a good coating on those seals? I suspect that when the drive was pulled to do the coupler, I don't think they put a new seal kit from the way they looked. I asked several times throughout this thread and other threads is this where my leak may have come from- never got any response. We will see as I found no damage to any of the bellows.

Lake_Bum

Rasbury, I have fully enjoyed watching this thread. I admire you for taking on the task by yourself! I didn't have any first hand knowledge to share, but I quietly watched this unfold....rooting for you!
Congrats on getting it all wrapped up. Hope the splash test goes smoothly without a drop of a leak! 

rasbury

Well, I'm not very confident that this will solve my leak- unless leaking around the out drive itself where it bolts up to the bell housing was the culprit. I would think that pretty tuff to have happen. I did not see any damage to the bellows....so worried that I have a steering pin seal leak which would mean the motor comes out to fix that if done correctly I'm told.....only other thing possible is where the raw water intake attaches on the transom inside of the boat. I actually had that apart some time ago when I had an over heat problem-I was checking that through transom connection as I had read in other posts it gets clogged- I am praying if the repair I did is not the problem, that is where it is so will let everyone know when I splash. Thanks to all for the input and encouragement!

davidbrooks

@rasbury I have had an education and a half watching what you are going through and living through what i am going through.  I have ended up simply replacing both transom assembly's vs attempting to remove, repair and replace.  One was covered partially on insurance and i found the second new in the box on craigslist.  All i have to do is swap out the digital trim senders. It was amazing to me how badly crimped my raw water hose was.  I think i had less than a 1/4 in opening.  Horrible design by the Merc Engineers.  Basically a 3 cent piece of plastic was responsible for blocking the water to a $10K engine.  

reneechris14

Way to stay with it ras. My fingers are crossed that all will be dry.

reneechris14

The steering pin on my 270 was just above the water line if my memory serves me correctly. You said you did an over night and the bilge came on a couple times that night. Plus if you take a pic of the pin from the inside you will see the intrusion, even dry like it is now. On the other hand the water inlet hose is 3in lower and way easier to repair. Lets just hope all is well.

reneechris14

my 342 is about 2 inches bellow the water line, but there not leaking yet.

rasbury

My water line is right at the top of the transom ring so it is all suspect...we'll see-

rasbury

342...that's a nice boat..but double trouble..

reneechris14

2x bellow,2x drives,2x fuel, did I say priceless ride, admiral says it rides like a Cadillac.

rasbury

No question- my admiral is ready to make me walk the plank for what the 270 costs us....we are just at our limit on boat bucks....if my ship ever comes in... @reneechris14

rasbury

No question- my admiral is ready to make me walk the plank for what the 270 costs us....we are just at our limit on boat bucks....if my ship ever comes in... @reneechris14

rasbury

ok- This little ring that goes into the bellows from the bell housing side is kicking my butt. Couple of things I saw on line I have tried. One, was pretty cool idea but did not work for me, a 1/4 quart paint top from a can....fits just inside the bellows, put some screws into it and pull it up against the seal of the bellows, just does not expand where this ring goes in so don't see that working....unless you had something tapered. Then looking at the "tool" for it, made a plug for going just in the id of it, then a piece just larger than the od of it, pound away and nothing. It's like trying to get one ton of dirt into a half ton truck- the way that bellows is designed your literally trying to shove this flimsy metal ring into a hole that is smaller than the ring. The ring has a slight curvature to it, but not enough to start into it. If the bellows side had a slight taper to it, just enough to break that edge I'm sure you could knock it right on there. What a crappy design. Maybe it's just the sierra after market parts that are not designed well. @Alswagg my Rinker brother, what is the trick on this one? I'm about ready to get a knife and start trimming the edge of the bellows so I can get this dam thing in there...

rasbury

Thanks for the reply @Alswagg , I found another ring at local marrina...I don't know ger it...the bellows has the one bead, the lip is flat on the bell housing. I fashioned my own tool but it seems such a bad fit, it was pushing the bellows out the back side. Will try the new one in a few...

rasbury

@Alswagg I looked again in the manual and the first bead on the bellows comes over the lip of the housing. Thought that would make it easier. And I mean no disrespect, but, it is a crappy design. When you have to have special tools to get the ring in then its a crappy design. If it had just a little more taper to it that you could get it started before you start tapping it in. When you have to have an alignment device and a special tool- that is poor engineering. BandAid on a hemorrhoid for poor thought. I know merc needs to make money selling tools that mechanics have to buy to discourage guys like me from fixing stuff- this one is just stupid. Once that is in there and the out drive installed, its not going anywhere. Why does it need to be getting a square peg in a round hole?