haffiman37
Silver Medal Contributor
"I see it again and again, and
"I see it again and again, and I get slightly 'annoyed' each time it is recommended only to remove the top part of the drives to change the bellow.
In my opinion, has the drive been on for such a period of time that the bellow need to be changed, remove the whole drive! Yes, it may be a pain in the butt to get the bellows back on, but it might be more to gain to remove it completely as a routine.
You get full access to the water connector for inspection, and for sure the complete reverse lock mechanism. For boats in the water a whole season a must to clean/lubricate and inspect.
Then we have the hinge pins that really seizes up left in place for some years.
In my 'world' it was a yearly service routine to remove the complete drive when the boat went into winter storage and a fresh joint bellow every spring.
In fact it is cheaper to remove the drive completely, no need to change the o-ring between upper and intermediate, but it might take some 15 minutes more depending on experience. And the risk of having a disrupted season due to a broken bellow, stuck reverse lock or corroded water connector is next to eliminated!"
"I see it again and again, and I get slightly 'annoyed' each time it is recommended only to remove the top part of the drives to change the bellow.
In my opinion, has the drive been on for such a period of time that the bellow need to be changed, remove the whole drive! Yes, it may be a pain in the butt to get the bellows back on, but it might be more to gain to remove it completely as a routine.
You get full access to the water connector for inspection, and for sure the complete reverse lock mechanism. For boats in the water a whole season a must to clean/lubricate and inspect.
Then we have the hinge pins that really seizes up left in place for some years.
In my 'world' it was a yearly service routine to remove the complete drive when the boat went into winter storage and a fresh joint bellow every spring.
In fact it is cheaper to remove the drive completely, no need to change the o-ring between upper and intermediate, but it might take some 15 minutes more depending on experience. And the risk of having a disrupted season due to a broken bellow, stuck reverse lock or corroded water connector is next to eliminated!"