I have a bravo 1 sterndrive. I have been seeing water where the steering mechanism goes through the transom above the drive shaft. It would drip down into the bilge slowly and i was told that it was probably the seal for the steering and it was not worth pulling it until end of year when I pull the boat out.

when i pulled my outdrive off thsi fall my bellows had water in it and my bearing grease was a white mess. looks like i was running my gimbal in water all summer.

could the steering seal leak drip onto the drive shaft on the inside of the boat and then transfer the water into the bellows? or is there another problem? my bellows were replaced in the spring!!!

thanks,

That could be it but i would suspect a bad o ring on drive where it connects to bell houseing. Would change gimbal bearing for sure and new o rings. Post a pic if you can

Its called a Tiller Arm and there is a seal on the upper swivel shaft that is leaking water from your description.

Sounds like a bad bellows and swivel shaft seal. No a bad swivel shaft seal will not let water into your gimbal shaft bellows (unless you filled the bilge with water and it would come in from the engine side).

I think I would check the swivel pin seal too, is there excessive play [side to side] in your outdrive? if so, it could be a bad gimbal ring, sometimes when the pin/seal are bad the gimbal ring is as well. Does it leak when your underway? or just when the boat is sitting idle in the water?

i think it leaks all the time but its hard to tell for sure as its a slow leak.

If you boat where you can beach your boat or if you anchor and put several people on the swim platform and open the engine hatch, You would see alot more water coming in through the swivel shaft seal. If you get it replaced make sure whoever does it replaces it with a new style pin seal that has a spring on the sealing lip.

I also recommend the newer style stainless steel swivel pin, lasts pretty much forever

Usually if you can move the lower unit "side to side" excessively there is a problem with the pin and/or gimbal, look at the top of the transom assembly and you should be able to see if the pin is or isn't moving when you move the lower unit side to side

Michael

Michael