Every time it's something

ric · **Posted:** Wed May 29, 2013 3:37 pm

That oil looks black that's not drive oil. VP drives require synthetic which is green. If your exhaust bellow cracked (who cares) there could be some oil dripping out from that. If its the original 1996 engine it probably burns a little (all chevys do..normal) and whatever has collected is dripping out.

Either way... Time for new bellows!

LVChris · **Posted:** Wed May 29, 2013 3:39 pm

ric wrote:

That oil looks black that's not drive oil. VP drives require synthetic which is green. If your exhaust bellow cracked (who cares) there could be some oil dripping out from that. If its the original 1996 engine it probably burns a little (all chevys do..normal) and whatever has collected is dripping out.

Either way... Time for new bellows!

No it just looks black because it's on blacktop I'd say it's more green...

ric · **Posted:** Wed May 29, 2013 3:43 pm

Green is VP synthetic gear/drive oil.

LVChris · **Posted:** Wed May 29, 2013 4:01 pm

So what would you guess that means in dollars?

ric · **Posted:** Wed May 29, 2013 6:01 pm

One million dollars

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Thu May 30, 2013 4:36 am

LVChris wrote:

So what would you guess that means in dollars?

You do know what BOAT means, right?

Break
Out
Another
Thousand

NiagaraChillin · **Posted:** Thu May 30, 2013 7:23 am

LVChris wrote:

So what would you guess that means in dollars?

I'll see rics 1 million, and raise ya to 2 million...

Seriously tho, more than likely you have an input shaft seal leak on the upper housing of your drive. This does involve the drive being removed.

LVChris · **Posted:** Thu May 30, 2013 11:19 am

NiagaraChillin wrote:

LVChris wrote:

So what would you guess that means in dollars?

I'll see rics 1 million, and raise ya to 2 million...

Seriously tho, more than likely you have an input shaft seal leak on the upper housing of your drive. This does involve the drive being removed.

Thanks that's this info I was looking for, since my mechanic hasn't gotten back to me yet on when he can look at it, I would guess i won't be on the lake this weekend :cry:

afw200 · **Posted:** Thu May 30, 2013 1:27 pm

You are looking at several hundred dollars for the repair, and not as much for the bellows, which should have been replaced long ago, I would not have even taken the boat out if mine looked like that. I have seen worse bellows though. Good Luck !!

LVChris · **Posted:** Thu May 30, 2013 2:14 pm

Thanks afw200, that's the kind of answer I was looking for. Trust me, the bellows did not look like that the last time I checked (maybe two weeks ago) Damn Vegas heat!

I really think me dragging my baby down that nasty road to Temple Bar caused a whole lot of damage. I know that wouldn't make the bellows rot, but it didn't make it better either.

NiagaraChillin · **Posted:** Thu May 30, 2013 2:45 pm

LVChris wrote:

I really think me dragging my baby down that nasty road to Temple Bar caused a whole lot of damage. I know that wouldn't make the bellows rot, but it didn't make it better either.

Actually you may be on to something there. Sure, a rough road won't rot a bellows or make an input shaft seal leak, but it could loosen the drive side of your upper bellows and cause the drive oil to leak out. The upper bellows on your drive (and mine) is attached to the transom assembly by a large hose clamp, but on the drive side, it is "forced" on by the accordian shape of the bellows itself, no hoseclamp. Soooo, in theory, a rough ride could have loosened it, especially with your drive in the full "up" position.

My guess is that you already had a leak, but it was contained in the bellows until the aforementioned roadtrip.

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

If oil is green and not milky then that's good in that you found it before water trashed the drive...probably never changed bellows and its overdue for drive service. No need to panic...some on this board remove their own drives and replace bellows but that's over my ability. I helped my mechanic do it by passing tools and it nothing for someone with told and knowledge and part of routine maintence.

Those with knowledge can advise better but you may want to have drive jujoint replaced along with bellows, ring seal, and gimble.... drain drive, flush with some oil and refill. They will realign during replacement and like new.

Glad you found it before drive or joint failed....that saved you the million....as mentioned you don't want to use it until repaired though.

rpengr · **Posted:** Fri May 31, 2013 10:29 am

I agree that the bellows need to be changed before going into the water, but a couple spoonfuls of oil in the bellows might not be a big deal. It might have taken years to accumulate. Also, some oil could accumulate from grease in the gimble bearing breaking down to a liquid.

If you are on a budget, then I would replace the bellows yourself (now) and keep using the boat. Then wait until end of season to remove the drive again and check for oil leakage.

LouC · **Posted:** Fri May 31, 2013 6:53 pm

What we are looking at is the exhaust bellows, and even if the engine burns oil, its very unusual to find oil there, even on my ancient one there is no oil around the slits on the exhaust bellows. What it could be, is an input seal leak, and a hole in the driveshaft bellows above the exhaust bellows. Is your gear oil low? Sometimes there is a leaky seal and the drive will actually suck in water when the drive cools. Eventually this water reaches the point where because of heat and expansion, oil will be forced past the seal. I had something similar one year on my Cobra, oil spurted out when I removed the dipstick on the top of the drive (Cobra is same as Volvo there) and right away I knew I had water in the drive. It did not blow out the input seal though.

So, you need to have the drive pressure checked for leaks, you need new bellows and also need to check and/or replace the gimble bearing and ujoints (possible water intrusion).
If you need to replace all that, figure one boating buck ...

Its the nature of sterndrives, they are high maintenance.

BTW, it is very unlikely for the driveshaft bellows to get loose on the end where the drive fits into the pivot housing, basically the bearing carrier forces itself against the bellows and its more or less trapped between the bearing carrier and the pivot housing. The big hose clamp of course can get loose. But if your driveshaft bellows looks as bad as your exhaust bellows then you got your answer right there.

NiagaraChillin · **Posted:** Fri May 31, 2013 8:25 pm

LouC wrote:

What we are looking at is the exhaust bellows

Dang, totally missed that :oops:

www.iFourWinns.com

Every time it's something

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