VP AQ130D280 leaking at transom

"Finally got it running good e

"Finally got it running good enough to take it out to the lake for a few hours this weekend. Since this was the first time I have had the boat in the water and running, I left the dog house off. After a while I noticed some water leaking in from what looks to be the center starboard side transome mount bolt. Could this be a sign of a leaking exhaust bellows, or something else(like a transome seal)? Is there a way to discern which is the source?

Thanks!"

"You may want to use a mirror

"You may want to use a mirror and see if you can pinpoint the source of the water ingress. You may also want to check that all 6 transom shield nuts are tight, in which case (unless you have a rotted transom) it is unlikely that the seal will be the problem."

"I will see check to see if ev

"I will see check to see if everything is tight. It's a slow leak--like one drop every 10 seconds or so. Would a leaking exhaust bellows be a possible culprit here? I know that sometimes these 'little' problems can evolve into big ones if not addressed early, so I want to fix it sooner rather than later.

Thanks"

"Check the crimp sleeve on the

"Check the crimp sleeve on the shift cable rubber hose "Sheathe" where it enters the transom shield. If this crimp sleeve is going, the hose may be leaking. You should actually check this anyway.

Agree with El P..... tighten all six of the shield nuts on the inside. Torque them down fairly well."

"The exhaust bellows is on the

"The exhaust bellows is on the outside of the transom shield, so even if it was blown that would never be the cause. You could, however, have a perforated exhaust pipe, which is not a common problem on your engine. Or even a perforated transom shield due to electrolysis in the bilge area. Or corrosion around the exhaust pipe and the transom shield.....

Well, you have to start somewhere, that's why I made my original suggestion."

Thanks El Pescador....that is

Thanks El Pescador....that is the info I was looking for.

Update: The leak is coming fr

Update: The leak is coming from the bottom bolt on the starboard side of the outdrive. That would certainly put it below the waterline. The bolts seemed pretty tight already. I took a picture of the hole where the shift cable goes through the outdrive. I'll post it tomorrow.

Thanks!

"James, the transom "shiel

"James, the transom "shield" itself uses a large rubber gasket that runs close to the perimeter, yet inside of the bolt pattern. So the bolts require their own seals.

The bolts are actually sealed via a "shank" seal (a compressed fat O ring) at each bolt between the transom and the "shield".
The bolts and the shield will need to be loosened in order to replace one or any of these seals.

A common temporary fix (but not a proper fix) is to caulk around the perimeter of the transom shield and then underneath each carriage bolt head.
This may get you by for a year or so.

Definitely re-tighten all six bolts.
."

"Just one note of caution. If

"Just one note of caution. If your boat is old and has been in salt water for all or most of its life, some of those transom bolts may have lost their galvanized layer and become quite wasted away. If a bolt is almost gone, the shank may snap if you overtighten it.

Another thing you may want to try is to punch with a screwdriver the transom around the leaky bolt area from the inside of the boat, looking for soft (rotted) areas. If you find them, then you have a big repair ahead of you."

"Thanks everybody. The boat i

"Thanks everybody. The boat is old(1978), but it's never seen salt water and has always been stored indoors. I checked out the exposed portion of the transom and it looks nice and dry. I think that Ricardo may be on to something as I don't see any 'sheath' where the shift cable goes through the outdrive--at least on the outside. I will have to get down with flashlight the next time i have it out and see if I can determine exactly where the water is coming from."

"The sheath is on the inside o

"The sheath is on the inside of the boat and its really just a hose a couple of feet long, with a "bellows" thingy clamped on the inboard end. The bellows is clamped to the hose, but the other end of the bellows is just a friction/interference fit/seal to the shift cable.

The "outboard" end of the hose screws into the transom shield.
As long as you are looking there, check out the fitting where the raw water hose to the raw water pump attaches to the transom shield."

"James, the "transom shiel

"James, the "transom shield" is the large unit that attaches to the hull's transom via the six bolts.
In the Volvo schematic, it will be found under "connecting components".
The shield is shown as # 1 in this schematic and the sheathe is # 54.
http://www.marinepartseurope.com/PentaPictures500/7464.jpg"

The outdrive actually hangs from the shield via the suspension fork!

The rubber hose "sheathe" fitting is screwed into the transom shield on the inside of the hull only...... (you would only see the end portion of the fitting from the outside! The shift cable will come un-protected through this and on to the Intermediate housing!)

If the sheathe was not attached, you would have a severe and continuous water leak from this area.
If the attachment point is loose, you may have only a small leak from this area.

The little bellows that Robert mentions is not used on all sheathes. Some are a simple rubber cap affair.

I'm only trying to clarify this a little better for you becuase this can often be the cause of a small water leak as you describe.

BTW, the inboard-most-end of the sheathe must be placed above the water line. That is really it's only purpose! "