www.iFourWinns.com

OK....so I was doing a pre-inspection today for my boating trip tomorrow. I found about a 2-3 inch rupture in the exhaust hose of the outdrive coming from the back of the transom leading into the prop. Is this a major issue/concern and will I still be able to take the boat out this weekend? I also threw some marine lube into the gimble bearing threw the grease gun fitting on the right side of the outdrive. I gave it about 4-5 squirts of lube...can you put too much lube into that fitting. I'm assuming it the grease fitting for the gimble bearing.

If somebody could advise as soon as possible, I'd greatly appreciate it.....

Chaz

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2001 Horizon 180

BTW....I have a 5.0 VP SX drive......

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2001 Horizon 180

The exhaust-bellows is serated (got little slits)from the factory. No worries. Run it. Some people, me included, remove it completely. Few squirts from the gun in the gimbal is fine.

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Jimbo
Na. Ga.

2000 170 Horizon LS
4.3GL

Thanks a bunch! I was a little worried, probably like the rest of the new (1st time) boat owners!

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2001 Horizon 180

One more question.....I assumed it was the exhaust hose....Just for clarity, there are 2 of those hoses (I'm pretty sure those are the bellows). The hose I was referring to is on the bottom. I could not see any cracks or anything in the top hose, which I'm assuming is for the drive shaft/u-joint bellows. Then again I couldn't truly expect the who thing. I trimmed it all the way and saw what I could.

Any thoughts?

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2001 Horizon 180

And yes, you can over-fill the gimbal bearing. When you feel resistance in the grease gun, stop. You've got the orientation right - upper bellows is driveshaft/u-joints, lower is exhaust. The one that can cause you all kinds of grief is the upper, if it has any holes whatsoever.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Thanks for the insight. As I was double and triple checking this stuff, I did find exhaust residue on the drive which would be right were that hole is.....What is the best way to inspect the u-joint bellows w/o pulling the whole drive?

And can I replace that exhaust bellows w/o pulling the whole drive?

Sorry for so many questions.....

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2001 Horizon 180

I think it'd be pretty hard to do a thorough inspection of the driveshaft bellows without pulling the drive. All I can think of is to raise the drive all the way up, and try to get the best look at it that you can. I'd have the drive pulled at the end of the season for a thorough inspection and engine alignment. And if that upper bellows is original (likely), I'd go ahead and have it replaced then. That way you'll know what you have and shouldn't have to worry much about it for a few more years (although having the drive pulled every year is good practice).

Also, if you aren't 100% certain about when the raw water impeller was last replaced, you should get that done no later than the end of this season. And get schooled up on anodes if you aren't already; that's something else you might need to replace if you just bought this boat.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I bought the boat used last fall. The motor was rebuilt and the impeller was changed then. As far as the anodes, I'm still learning but from what I've seen and learned so far, they look pretty good. The boat was well cared for from what I could see but with it being 10 years old, I'm finding a lot of little things that I don't want to turn into big things. I had it inspected and all appeared good as of last fall and when the marina did some final work this past spring. My gimble was also fine as of last fall when it was winterized. They did pull the drive and changed a crush sleeve and gear case o-ring/seal.

From what I can see, I'm thinking I could change that exhaust bellows myself but was looking for some additional insight to see if I should have the marina do it or if I can tackle it? I'm fairly mechanically sound but again I'm not famalier with boats and learning as I go.

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2001 Horizon 180

You might want to get a Clymer or Seloc manual before you tear into it. Pulling the drive isn't particularly hard but you'll need a stand of some sort to rest it on. A lot of guys build their own out of 2x4's, do a search and you'll see some nice ones. Before you loosen any clamps holding the bellows on, take note of the "clock position" of the clamp screws; it's possible to put the clamps on in such a way that the screws can bind and/or damage the bellows.

Just a word to the wise - this being your first time, I wouldn't recommend doing any of this yourself until you can take your time with it (if you're contemplating trying to do it before taking it out this weekend).

At 10 years, you're smart to be on the lookout for little things, and you'll probably find a few. Just keep your eyes, ears, and wallet open and you should be fine.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic