Re: taking on water
 

I also had serious ussue last year with bellows. I had an exhaust problem that caused lots of water in the bilge. I think it's where the underwater exhaust goes through the exterior stern wall. Almost sank!

I finally found a great mechanic that fixed the probelm. He had to pull the engine and also found the engine mounts were loose from another mechanic that didn't torque them down correctly.

Also, there's a metal flap sort of like a check valve that will not allow water to backwash into the engine. Those were worn/burned completely and needed to be replaced.

She's air tight and ready for some warm weather now!

Dave

Re: taking on water
 

Same problem with my 94 Shabah but it seems to be worse if engine is off and drive is up! If drive is left down I can park it for hours and I get No water? If drive is up I get a flood in my front yard! I JUST spent $2600 on bellows and a U-joint 6 months ago. Any ideas would be welcome. I should also add there is no exhaust bellows on my boat. Is this normal? let me hear from ya. thx

Re: taking on water
 

The original exhaust connected into a corrugated rubber bellows on my '95 7.4L Bravo I . Mine tore over time & was replaced by a rubber bullhorn. When the lower unit trim is lowered, the exhaust fits into the bullhorn part.

This was the OEM Mercruiser exhaust bellows replacement part. I did not take on any water when the original part tore. It works just fine. Here is a video link below for replacing the exhaust bellows. There are several very good videos on these pages as well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX8TLPxRF1Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ0KWMaLRxM

Taking on water the first time was a torn/rotten bellows. The last time was through the transom plate. My mechanic used a transom plate repair kit on the outdrive without having to pull the engine. This video shows where the outdrive plate is located. There is a repair kit with a new plate he used.

They pulled the lower unit, serviced the gimbal bearing, installed a new gimbal bearing and bell housing yoke (part of the repair kit) new seal/gasket, replaced shift cable & bellows, aligned the gimbal, etc. This solved my mysterious transom leak without having to pull the engine. I think this repair was approximately $1,500.

Sorry I don't have the transom repair kit part order number for you.

I hope this helps! Good luck.