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Water leak through steering shaftgimbal housing

S

scott simms

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"I have a 1991 performance boa

"I have a 1991 performance boat with twin Mercruiser 454/ Bravo One set ups. My problem is the boat seems to be leaking water in through the steering shaft where it passes through the gimbal housing. I have been told that the engines must be removed to replace seals that are in there. I did some looking around at the marina and found that a lot of Mercruiser gimbal housings (mostly alpha’s, didn’t have any Bravo’s to compare to) had grease fittings at the top which allowed you to pump grease in around the steering shaft. My owners manual actually shows a grease fitting there also, but my housings don’t have them. There are dimples in my housings where the grease fittings would be located though. Being able to pump grease in there, at least in theory, should slow or stop the leak, even if it is only a tempory/patch repair.

Would it be possible (for a cheap, fast repair) to drill and install grease fittings in the gimbal housing where the dimples are located? Would the grease passage be there behind the dimple if you drilled through? Or do they use different housing molds, or drill the entire passage ? Any experience or info on this problem would be most helpful. Thanks."
 
"I think it is more likely tha

"I think it is more likely that you have a leaking driveshaft bellows or shift cable bellows. this is especially true for a 1991 unit if they have never been replaced. They are rubber and only last a few years.
Another possibility is a leaky cooling water hose or fitting if your cooling water supply is through the drive units.
Any of the bellows can be replaced from the outside after removing the drive leg. No need to remove the engine necessarily.
Does it only seem to leak when the engines are running, or does water accumulate overnight?
Rod"
 
"All bellows were replaced las

"All bellows were replaced last year, same problem before and after. Cooling water hose does pass through the housing (sea water pumps are belt driven on engine), but is somewhat visible from inside and doesn't appear to be leaking. It doesn't matter if the engine is running or not the water slowly trickles in causing bilge to come on approx every 1 to 2 hrs. The leak is most definately right near the top (above bellows). There is a "flat part" (looking from inside) just under the steering arm where the water is first visable running in. Just to rule out the housing to hull gasket I checked the tightness of all the main bracket bolts that are accessable then ran a bead of marine sealer all around the gimbal housing on the outside and had no luck. At that point my marine mechanic (retired, but somewhat reliable) came to the steering shaft leak conclusion. Thanks for the reply Rod, hope the additional info on how I got to this point explains why I'm looking at the steering shaft."
 
"OK I see that this problem ha

"OK I see that this problem has resulted in some extensive investigations. It does sound like the steering shaft, where it goes thru the housing to the gimbal ring. Kind of unusual.
It sounds like you will have to pull it completely apart from the outside and see if it is repairable from there. Otherwise you may be faced with engine removal followed by removal of the entire transom assembly. The latter is pretty simple once you have the engine out.
Rod"
 
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