volvo penta 280 water seeping through transom

[mschwartz]

Hi all I have a vp 280 Ive noticed water seeping out of the bottom of the transom plate. I am wondering how hard it is to change the o rings, and if this could be allowing water get behind transom plate thanks

 

[RicardoMarine]

Yes, the transom shield can leak..... and particularly if this is one of the OHC 4 cylinder cantilever hung engines.

First look to see if the shift cable "sheathe" crimp sleeve has let go. These are prone to rusting and loosing their compression on the rubber shift cable sheathe at the fitting.
Do NOT attempt to remove the fitting!
The fittings are sealed on the inside, leaving the threads exposed to sea water....... and the threads will be corroded!

Take a paper towel and wipe the suspecting areas....... you'll eventually find the location of the leak.

You may also want to tighten up the six transom shield mounting bolt nuts.

As a last resort (if the shield is the source of the leak), you can loosen the six nuts....., drive the carriage bolts AFT..... seal the carriage head....., re-tighten.
Then you will then need to seal around the perimeter of the shield.

This is NOT a proper fix, but will get you by temporarily!

 

[mschwartz]

I noticed the water coming in around the bolts that hold the transom shield on. Oh i have and aq260. I f that helps. Do i need to have the transom shield removed. I seein oldeer threads that there are o rings between the shield and transom on the carriage bolts could this be the culprit?

 

[RicardoMarine]

Yes, those rubber bolt shank seals could be the culprit!
The main rope seal could also be the culprit!
The inside large rubber cushion ring could also be leaking!
The joint between the Y-pipe and shield could be leaking (there are six O-rings here)!
A soft transom could be allowing the washers to sink into the transom core, causing a loss of tightness between the transom shield and hull.

As you can see, there are several areas that could be causing this.

While this is NOT a proper fix, you could loosen and drive the carriage bolts AFT....., seal the carriage heads, drive them back FWD....., install a larger plate washer on each......, re-tighten the six nuts......., then clean and seal around the perimeter of the transom shield.
With the carriage heads sealed against the shield, this circumvents the task of the six rubber bolt shank seals.
Sealing around the perimenter of the shield circumvents the task of the large rope gasket.

Like said, this is NOT a proper fix, so think of it as temporary only!