blefever

I've been getting water in the bilge, and finally determined that the transom mounts were loose and letting water in. I was able to tighten the top nuts but no way to get to the lowers without pulling motors.

I'm thinking that I need to pull the motors and re-seal the mounts to do it right.

Any helpful hints before I get into this? I have never had the motors out so this is my first time. Doesn't look that tough but I've been around long enough to know how these go.

What are the torque specs for the transom mount? Do I need to re-align the drives when I put it back together even though nothing will/should change. Anything else that I need to think about and do?

1999 Baja 29' Outlaw, twin big blocks.

Thanks for any help.

1BIGJIM

iTrader: (1)

Are you asking about the inner and outer transom plates?
If you are, yes you need to reseal and align the drives.

Before I went to all that work I would make sure you know where the leak is coming from. Could be something as simple as a shifter cable, drive bellows..

Good luck

dereknkathy

you can also get to most of the bolts. try tightening all of them a little that you can reach. do it in the water but AT THE RAMP! if you break one and it starts pouring in...it can also be at the y-pipe mount. a friend dropped a socket down his y-pipe. it rotted a hole in pipe where socket sat against the aluminum. so there are lots of possibilities. i got my nova the first time i owned it because orig block-offs rotted through and sank it at the dock.

blefever

Yes, inner and outer plates. I had the boat in the water and could see water running in on the bottom of the hull at the transom. When I tightened the nuts that I could get to on the transom plate the leak slowed a lot. I have checked the bellows, shifter boot and pretty much everything else, so I'm pretty confidant that the problem is the plates. The nuts were very loose on both sides but as said, I could only reach the nuts on the top and one in the middle.

seafordguy

It's pretty straight forward, although like the others said I'd make damn sure that is your problem. Make sure it isn't a leaking water hose fitting where the water comes through the Transom Assembly. Make REAL sure that shift cable bellows isn't the issue.

If you're pulling them out I'd plan to replace everything from the swivel seals, bellows, gimbal bearing (which I'd put in backwards when you replace), etc.....

An adjustable engine spanner is worth the money in my opinion.

If you don't have offshore mounts, but rather you have ordinary engine mounts I'd make damn sure you plan to check alignment after you put it back together - mis-alignment woudl be ugly.

Knot 4 Me

I'd be curious as to why they are loose. I'd check the transom for rot while the mills are out.

blefever

Me Too. I wonder the same thing. Why are they loose? and yes rot came to mind. I have banged on the transom and it sounded ok, but I don't have a lot of experience bangin on transoms detecting rot.

I do know that the plates were loose and still are because I can not reach the lower nuts without pulling a least one motor, so I'm going to do the work and sleep better at night knowing it's right.

I can then also check closer for rot and if I find something then, take care of that too.

Thanks everyone for the input.

blefever

Gimbal bearing in backwards?????? Please explain.

FIXX

iTrader: (2)

..............double post.......................

FIXX

iTrader: (2)

+1... i have also seen in the past that the bottom bolts/studs rust in half but i have a feeling that your going to find some rot also..torque them to 30 first then to 57 ft lbs and go over them more then once..