Bellows??
 

I am going to have to change the Gimbal ring on my Bravo drive, due to excessive 'play" and a leak that has developed, I am also going to change the swivel pin/seal since I imagine they are both shot as well. After getting some GREAT advice and a PILE of help from some board members [Thanks again to RDOACTIVE, SIKINBOAT, and a few others!] While I have it apart I was wondering if I should change the bellows while I am at it? I noticed most of the bellows "kits" come with an "exhaust" bellows, but, my boat has Stainless Marine manifolds and the exhaust exits through the transom, would I still have/need the exhaust bellows?

I am just curious if this is a situation where I should change this stuff while "its apart", or, if its a case of "if it aint broke, dont fix it"?

I also have the closed loop cooling set up, so, would my lower unit have that short water hose that needs to be changed as well? or is it just 1 long hose that goes from the pick up in the lower unit to the inlet side of the raw water pump?

THANKS!
Michael

PS: 95 Baja with 454EFi/B1 drive

I would assume your exhaust has a block off place on the inside of the transom assembly, so you would NOT need the exhaust bellows.

YES - I would change the bellows while you have it apart. The u-joint bellow, and the shift cable bellow combined are just over 100 bucks if I remember from last year, and it is great peace of mind (plus you shouldn't have to do it again for a LONG time)

There is a waterhose that goes from the back of the bellhousing up through the transom assembly. There are two tapered plastic insert pieces that you screw in both ends of the rubber water pipe - you will need a special tool to screw those pieces in. I replaced the hose - to do so I woudl assume you are going to ruin the inserts pieces when you are getting them out and you might possibly have to drill the old ones out if the plastic breaks, so go ahead and buy the threaded inserts. The hoses can become kind of corroded in there if they are very old.

Hopefully all of that makes sense. You can go to mercruiserparts.com and look at some of the parts fische and it will help clear things up....

EDIT - that waterhose would be just about impossible to replace with the motors in.

Great, Thanks! I will order the 2 bellows and the adhesive/clamps, I have NO interest in pulling the motor, in those little Baja's its a giant PITA, so, thats why I am doing the gimble ring/swivel pin with motor in.

Any special tools needed to change the bellows? or are they just held on with a couple of gear clamps?

I have been told to put the boat in "forward" before pulling the outdrive, however, I have also been told NEVER to shift a Bravo drive with the engine not running? My boat is currently winterized and would like to do the bellows/gimble BEFORE "summerizing" it, any thoughts?

THANKS!
Michael

Leave it in neutral.

There are no special tools needed to change the bellows. The front end is held on with adhesive, and a radiator hose clamp. The back end (that attaches to the bellhousing) is the harder end - you have to make sure it slips into the right groove and then you have to knock in the retaining ring. They make a tool for that, but I went to lowes and got a piece of galvanized pipe and a fitting to go on the end that was the size of the retainer pin and knocked it in that way....

When you pull the drive make SURE you have a second set of hands because they are unmanageable with one person. Have your friend lift from the left side and you should lift from the right side and have a screw driver sitting there so that you can unclasp the shift cable if it gets hung up in the mechanism - you don't want the weight of the drive to bend it.

I'll tell you a couple things to be on the lookout for.

1 - my shift cable on one side was fairly corroded into the bellhousing and I ultimately had to drill it out and replace it with a new one. If it doesn't come right out, and the shift cable bellows doesn't look bad you might want to just leave it.
2 - the lower pin that the gimbal ring rotates on has a cotter pin through it. Again, mine was corroded and I couldn't get it out of the pin, so I ended up having to drill that out TOO!!

Great, Thanks! Seaford!!

I appreciate the help, I have started getting the "small" stuff together now [hinge pin tool, ahesives, etc] Was just wondering? Do I need to "disconnect" the shift cable, or will there be enough "slack" to just pull it out of the way? I realize to replace the shift bellows would require removing the cable, but, as you suggested, if it looks good I will leave it [no point fixing what isn't broke]. I was curious how hard it is to disconnect the shift cable from the lower unit? any tricks?

Any chance you could send me a pic or something of that tool you whipped up for installing the retaining ring? I am not exactly sure what you meant, THANKS AGAIN!


Michael

If you are removing the outdrive - the end of the cable has a square shaped "ball" on the end of the cable, and fits into the shift linkage that comes off the front of the outdrive. It will basically fall out of the linkage naturally, and go back in naturally, but just in case when you remove the outdrive have a screwdrive handy just to undo the clasp on the linkage coming out of the drive.

After you remove the outdrive you will be left looking at the bellhousing that is set inside the gimbal ring and pivots on the hinge pins. The shift cable will be sticking through the bellhousing and there will be a retainer nut on the rearward facing side - that holds the cable IN the bellhousing. If you decide not to change the shift cable bellows I see no reason to pull this cable out. Just undo the hinge pins, undo the retainer nut on the swivel pin like you discussed on the other thread, pull the cotter pin out of the lower swivel pin and pull that pin. Then pull the ring off, smack on the bellows and reassemble.

To answer your question though - I changed my driveshaft bellows two years ago with JUST taking off the outdrive I didn't remove the ring, the bellhousing, or even touch the shift cable so the answer to your question is YES it can be done without removing the cable (or anything else for that matter)

Absolutely - shoot me an email and got a fair number of pictures of the entire process that can hopefully clear some things up for you. eric.ancarrow (at) ferguson.com

THANKS ERIC! Thats DAMN decent of you, and I sure appreciate it!, I will PM you my address, thanks again!

Michael

Hope you don't mind if I jump in here n20 for a related question...

Seaford,
So you can replace the belllows w/o removing the bellhousing?
Is that hard to do, or just another way of doing it? I bought 2 NOS Alpha transom assemblies units and am trying to decide if I want to replace the bellows before they get mounted. They both have never been mounted and still have the Merc shipping paper on them, but both are several yrs old judging by the serial numbers and decals. I rather not tear them down any more than absolutely needed.
Thanks

On the Bravos you can definitely replace the driveshaft and exhaust bellows without taking the bellhousings out. I would think the Alphas are the SAME. I have done this with them ON the boat so I KNOW it is possible (and not too hard). In my opinion it would be even easier with them on the bench.

BUT - don't forget that with them on the bench and being that they have never been installed and subjected to corrosion simply pulling the hinge pins out would take about 30 seconds and an allen head wrench.

Emails Sent Michael....