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Water leaking from transom unit inside engine hold

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Axstarz

New member
Hello guys, new member here, never posted on a forum so.... sorry if i'm kinda noob's.

Currently having a Mercruiser 4.3lx, alpha gen 1 sterndrive. After 2.000€ (bellows,U joints, gimball bearings...) to try to fix the problem (water leaking from transom inside hold), i don't want to take it to the mechanic's one more time. To see the leaks ==> check pic's (pdf format) (after one or two minutes inside water the leaks appears.)

I saw that it could be the bellows but they are brand new, full shift cable assembly brand new too. I don't exclude that the mecanics did **** but.... yeahh.

If you have any idea on what could it be, i would appreciate it a lot.

Have a nice day,
Peter.
 

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First, if you paid so much for repairs and the repairs were for a leak, Bring it back nad make them figure it out. If the initial issue was a leak then they are still responsible. If you are unable to do so....read below.

When I have had boats leaking water and unable to determine the source,

While on the trailer, Trim drive all the way up,
Lift front of trailer as high as you can without damaging the drive or boat.

Fill bilge with water from hose until it covers the input shaft (from u-joints) and almost all the way up to steering lever and see if you can see water leaking out from the transom on outside of boat.

Be careful not to submerge starter. Make sure if you have a auto bilge pump to turn it off or disconnect.

Your pictures are no good, Unable to see what you are referring to.
 
A good one to check bellows leaks is while its in the water turn the wheel hard to port and starboard and see if it increases or decreases the flow. Also try raising and lowering the drive why it's in the water. if its one of your bellows leaking that should tell you the story.... But i like that idea of filling the bilge while on the trailer. That's a good tip...(y)

I agree with Kghost... if you just got her out of the shop and its still leaking, id take it back to them and hold their feet to the fire until its fixed. You shouldn't have to deal with that...
 
Thank you guys, i've checked my bellows and......... There is holes on the exhaust (i think ?) one. Could it come from here ?
Also, there is a "small" hole on my drive (red circles on picture) is that OEM lol ?

I will try tomorrow the trailer tips as she is out now...
 
it may be the exhaust pipe or its joint to the transom plate....if so, the work you paid for may not have had anything to do with 'the leak'...

If the flex hose in the second pic is the exhaust vent hose, you may want to shorten it up a bit...if it runs to the bottom of the oil pan, you'll be ok...
 
The large bellows is the Ujoint bellows.
The smallest with the cable going thru it is the shift cable bellows.
The medium bellows about 3 inches in diameter is the Exhaust bellows.

The exhaust has water mixed with the sxhaust after the elbows so the rubber exhaust boots dont melt.
So if the exhaust bellows has holes or it is torn wide open, that by itself will not cause water leaks into boat.

As Makmark says, if the "rams horn" part of the exhaust where it bolts to the inside / engine side of the transom assembly is leaking that may be the source but that may require the engine to be removed to repair....so you need to be sure...

My suggestion will show this as water will leak from inside thru rams horn gaskets and out the exhaust bellows...
 
Okay, i will try to put water inside the exhaust bellows (from the holes), theoretically, it should leak if it come from the "exhaust + water" circuit.
Do you have any schematics for the exhaust elbows and "rams horn gaskets" part, i can't find what are you talking about^^

(My mechanics said the same ghost , "the exhaust bellows is holed yes, but it's not what is causing the leak so, not my fault....)

Thank you all. Will try to keep you in the loop !
 
The link below is from this web site, It is for reference only as we do not know what year your boat/engine is.

It shows the part of the exhaust we are discussing, the "rams Horn" and if you look at the bottom where the two tubes, (horns) come together that is where is bolts to the transom and "may" be leaking. Remember, we are only suggesting this as we cannot physically see your issue.

MerCruiser 4.3LX (4 Barrel.) GM 262 V-6 1988-1992 Exhaust System , Use With 4 Inch Exhaust Elbow Parts

MerCruiser 4.3lx (4 bbl.) gm 262 v-6 1988-1992 exhaust system , use with 4 inch exhaust elbow parts. Buy a genuine Mercury Quicksilver or aftermarket part.
www.marineengine.com www.marineengine.com
 
After looking at the photos again,

the second one shows the hydraulic lines for trim and if that is the source of the leak it can be repaired easily.

The link shows the trim rams and hydraulic lines. The item that is not clear is where the lines connect and has a gasket to keep water from entering the boat. if that gasket is bad water will leak into boat.

MerCruiser R / MR / Alpha One (Transom Assembly) 1983-1990 Trim Cylinders & Hydraulic Hoses Parts

MerCruiser r/mr/alpha one (transom assembly) 1983-1990 trim cylinders and hydraulic hoses parts. Buy a genuine Mercury Quicksilver or aftermarket part.
www.marineengine.com www.marineengine.com


In the link below, it shows the item referred to above in more detail,

Item 31 GASKET and
Item 32 Junction for hydraulic lines

Item 12 which is an O-ring is the Ram Horns "gasket" it is actually a shaped O-ring

MerCruiser R / MR / Alpha One (Transom Assembly) 1983-1990 Gimbal Housing Square / Square Upper Swivel Shaft Parts

MerCruiser r/mr/alpha one (transom assembly) 1983-1990 gimbal housing square/square upper swivel shaft parts. Buy a genuine Mercury Quicksilver or aftermarket part.
www.marineengine.com www.marineengine.com
 
Yeah, we were talking about the same things, maybe i can send you the videos where you can see the leak very good ?

I tried to access to this bolt (part number 9, but i can't find it...), on the video's, it's looks like leaking from both horns, but, if i understand well the system, when she is out and i turn her on with water inlet from hose, it should leak too right ?
 
I reviewed the three videos you sent me.

I wish I could give you a definitive answer as to exactly what is leaking but i can not.

The gasket for the hydraulic connections is the easiest to try first. it can be done from the outside of the boat and if that solves your issue then that is a good thing,

If it does not, then the only other way to resolve the leak may be to have engine removed to be able to access the leaking area from inside the boat.
 
If you back the trailer into the water with transom straps, it will provide more pressure than if it's floating- if the bellows for the yoke is leaking, you should see water coming from a hole next to where the tube for the fresh water passes through the transom plate- this is a passage from inside of the bellows. Without seeing video, it looks like the water is coming in slowly- is that correct? If so, it could be the transom gasket.

When I worked for a boat dealer, a customer's boat had a bad transom gasket and it required removal of the drive, engine and transom assembly. Personally, I think it should be possible to replace this gasket without removing the engine and transom assembly, but I don't have a spare boat that I can test this theory. I do know that the gasket fits outside of all bolts used to fasten the transom assembly in place and there's no gasket on the inside.

If you want to test the gasket, you could use Latex or Silicone sealant to run a bead around the outer transom plate, making sure to use a finger to get it into the corner. If this gasket is the cause of the leak, the silicone should seal it because all of the holes in this plate are closed by
 
OK, that pdf doesn't work and I can no longer edit the post.
I need to finish the last comment- the holes are closed by the bellows and exhaust "O ring" (not an O, more of a square with rounded corners and lifted in the middle of the bottom, as shown in the link).

Part 31 is the transom seal- the old one needs to come out, the surface of the groove needs to be cleaned, to remove the Perfect Seal adhesive (I used Acetone) and Quicksilver Perfect Seal needs to be applied to the groove. The seal is about 3/4" diameter and made of foam rubber. If you don't have Perfect Seal (Mrecruiser's cement), you can use Permatex gasket cement- it looks the same, smells the same and acts the same. I'm not gonna taste it......

Scroll down to pg 17-

 
Hey Jimn, my dealership told me that it was the transom plate joint, so i used marine silicon to test that, after this "repair" the leaks is still here. So that's not the joint "31". I can send you the videos if you want to help me. On your schematics, the things i want to change is part "13" the exhaust o-ring. But it's a very hard job i think.
 
Axstarz said:
Hey Jimn, my dealership told me that it was the transom plate joint, so i used marine silicon to test that, after this "repair" the leaks is still here. So that's not the joint "31". I can send you the videos if you want to help me. On your schematics, the things i want to change is part "13" the exhaust o-ring. But it's a very hard job i think.
Click to expand...
If the exhaust ring needs to be replaced, the transom assembly has to come out and that's no fun, at all. If you have a way to pull the engine, it makes accessing the transom assembly possible, subject to the boat's construction (I know someone whose Sea Ray has wooden framing around the engine and if his engine needs to come out, I'm not gonna be involved.
 
jimn said:
If the exhaust ring needs to be replaced, the transom assembly has to come out and that's no fun, at all. If you have a way to pull the engine, it makes accessing the transom assembly possible, subject to the boat's construction (I know someone whose Sea Ray has wooden framing around the engine and if his engine needs to come out, I'm not gonna be involved.
Click to expand...
Ayuh,.... If the exhaust y-pipe o-ring / gasket needs to be replaced, just the motor has to come out to get to it,....

The transom assembly stays in-place,....
 
Axstarz said:
Hey Jimn, my dealership told me that it was the transom plate joint, so i used marine silicon to test that, after this "repair" the leaks is still here. So that's not the joint "31". I can send you the videos if you want to help me. On your schematics, the things i want to change is part "13" the exhaust o-ring. But it's a very hard job i think.
Click to expand...
Not a hard job just have to remove the drive then the engine. As long as you can get a lift high enough its actually not bad to remove the engine from the typical small boat. Took me an hour the first time.
 
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