New (to me) boat taking on water
 

Question about bellows: I have a 1993 Diablo 180 with the 4.3 Mercruiser and Alpha One outdrive. I bought this boat last week and it is my first boat :) However, it is taking on water. After browsing all the helpful information in this forum, I have narrowed down the problem to most likely being the bellows. When the trim is more than 25% up, you can see a steady stream of water shooting into the engine compartment from somewhere in the transom area. When the trim is all the way down, it stops leaking. After visually inspecting the bellows the best I could, I see no obvious cracks or holes but it does have some minor weather rotting in the creases. With the steady stream of shooting water when the outdrive is trimmed up, I imagine the problem will be obvious once the outdrive is removed.

So here is my question..... Is this one of those issues where I would be better off taking it to a certified mechanic or giving it a shot myself? I am mechanically inclined and I worked at a Ford/Mercury/Lincoln dealership for years as a tech, but I know nothing about boats. From a Wet Willy link, I saw that special tools are needed to get the job done. And while I may be mechanically inclined, I also know that there are certain issues that need to be tackled by a trained professional.

It wouldnt surprise me to also find out when everything is torn down that the gimbal bearing and ujoints will also be rusted. The trim fluid is milky from water introduction, I'm guessing from this bellow problem. So that will also need to be addressed after this is fixed.

If done by a professional, any ideas on how much they usually charge for this type of service?

Re: New (to me) boat taking on water
 

Ok, an update on the problem. I was able to pinpoint the problem to a tear in the shifter cable boot. With my limited knowlege of boats, I wanted to confirm with somebody that knows what they are talking about that I shouldnt have a problem with water in my bellows/ujoints/gimbal bearing......?

I may attempt this fix myself. From reading about how big a pain it is to replace the bellows, what opinions does everybody have as far as going ahead and replacing everything while I'm in there or just fixing this problem and moving on down the road with my new boat :)

Re: New (to me) boat taking on water
 

I helped my dad with his boat back in 2005 and recently watched a few youtube videos on it. Not saying that qualifies me or anything but it gives you an idea of what your in for. I also work on cars often and if my bellows were shot, I'd give it a try myself. I would definitely get the special tools and a reference manual. If you run into trouble you could take it into a boat shop as long as you haven't royally screw anything up. You being a mechanic definitely helps.