U joint bellows

"Hi, I have a 5.7 mercruiser 1

"Hi, I have a 5.7 mercruiser 1995 chapperal, I had the boat for 3 yrs now, had the outdrive off for the winter stored indoors. This year when I pulled the outdrive I noticed that two of the bolts that hold the outdrive on were not very tight, seemed more "snug tight" where as the other side was tight. So I pulled the oudrive and found water in the bellows, ( there was water in the bilge ) looking at the bellows I see what looks like a tad or hook protruding in the 5o and the 7o postion on the bellows inner and outer edges. how do I determine if the bellows is leaking or not ? Also what would be a fair price for the job to be done by a mobile mechanic ? The U joints do not have grease fitting on the them, I did get the u joint out of the input shaft and put a grease fitting on it! Thank you for any advice!"

"Wow !!.. so if the u-joints h

"Wow !!.. so if the u-joints had fitting holes but never had fittings? Did you put a fitting on the other one? did you grease them both? yea, the hooks are suppose to be there. The only way to tell if' it's leaking is to put it in the water, you need the pressure to know. Water in there is not good for U-joints OR Gimbal Bearings, you should definately check or replace since you have the drive out. Parts cost for that is about $40 for the bellows, 40-50 for the gimbal bearing and $10 for the gasket kit. it's about a 2 hour job @ $75-150 an hour depending on where your located."

"Thanks for the reply, I could

"Thanks for the reply, I could not get the other plug out of the u-joint to grease it, Do you think this is an orginal bellows? Should I have it replaced?"

"your welcome, If its original

"your welcome, If its original and over 10y old.. I would replace it. no way to know if it's original without looking at it and checking the condition.

Id grease the gimbal bearing, u-joints, put a new drive gasket on, tighten it properly and see if it leaks.. and/or look at it as well as you can, turning the drive hard left and right, and all the way up.. looking for cracks, you'd also want to get a small 1/4" drive set and tighten up the hose clamp(s) .. the lower exhaust tube is not as important."

Will do thanks again!

Will do thanks again!

"Brian, on the u-joint a perso

"Brian, on the u-joint a person should use regular waterproof grease but on the gimbal bearing should the old style dark bearing grease be used?
Thanks, Bob"

"Waterproof grease isn't a

"Waterproof grease isn't as important as high temp, high pressure. not sure what old style dark bearing grease you are referring."

Just use a full synthetic mobi

Just use a full synthetic mobil one or valvoline all purpose grease and be done with it.......

Why waste time with umpteen different grease types???

"I greased it with a multi-pur

"I greased it with a multi-purpose grease, the other u-joint cannot be greased the plug for the fitting is frozen in the hole with nothing to grip on to remove it! the joint moves freely, Should this be remove and replaced?"

If the ujoint is plugged and n

If the ujoint is plugged and no zerk fitting was ever there than you should have NON servicable type ujoints. They are sealed so no water or dirt can get in or grease get out.

Supposedly..............

"Kghost.. the u-joint has a fi

"Kghost.. the u-joint has a fitting, he can't grease it and can't remove it to replace it.. then he should replace the u-joint.. better to do it while it's out.. less chance of doing damage later."

"QUOTE...........The U joints

"QUOTE...........The U joints do not have grease fitting on the them, I did get the u joint out of the input shaft and put a grease fitting on it!"

quote [b]"the other u-join

quote "the other u-joint cannot be greased the plug for the fitting is frozen in the hole with <u>nothing to grip on to remove it!</u> the joint moves freely"

posted 11:26am..