Need to pull motors.
 

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

fixx
 

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

fixx
 

+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..

Not what I want to hear, but this is why I'm willing to do work now. If there is a rot issue, I'm thinking the sooner I catch it and repair it the better.

Thanks for the torque specs
.

the gimbal bearing has a cage. the bearing outer race swivels in this cage. there are 2 slots cut in cage so that bearing can be flipped sideways and removed without slide-hammering the cage out. fact install puts the slots on the inside just to be mean. put slots so you can see them when looking in from the stern thru gimbal boot.

So the new bearings come with a new cage? or do I reuse the existing cage and just turn it around so slots are to the rear?

Next time the bearing needs replacing (most likely by some other owner of the boat) he can just flip the bearing sideways thru the boot and replace the bearing with out slide-hammering the cage out.

Is this correct?

I second the check of the water intake tube, very common problem on bravos of your age. More common than transom rot. I beleive you are still going to have to pull the engine to replace this tube however.

Job is fairly simple, however it is the room that makes it tight.

Remove drives. I suggest completely removing engine hatch. Remove exhaust tubes. Remove ground wires, backs and sides of engines. Take out startboard first, remove power wire, unhook merc plug, unbolt front mounts and remove two long bolts on rear bellhousing mounts. The rears are 3/4 head sixe and best removed from the top with long ext. The back bolts have springs around them, don't lose them! These back bolts are used for drive alignment. Now do the same with the port engine, the reason for taking the port out last and installing first is for easier access to the power wire on the starter.

While out replace or have starters rebuilt. Inspect flywheel gear, inspect or replace couplers. Replace impellars.....all very easy jobs with engines out, and PIA with engines in on that boat.

yes. bearing comes with cage. if you see the slots looking in thru boot, they have been changed and are now correct (backwards is correct in this instance.) take a long extension or giant screwdriver. put it to bearing right halfway between slots as far outboard on bearing as you can get it. knock it sideways with a hammer and pull it out the slots. FIRST stick fingers in bearing and turn it. if it feels perfect, it probably is...

All good information. Thank You! As far as I know, the motors have never been out of this boat, so I do plan to replace and inspect everything necessary while I can.

I did a little looking around on-line last night and now see exactly what you are talking about.
Good information, Thank You.

one important detail if you change bearings this way. there is a hole on outside of bearing race that grease goes into. there is a slot in the cage that grease goes to to feed the hole. THEY ARE OFF CENTER!! feel for the slot in cage. i am pretty sure it is toward the slots. when you knock the cage off the new bearing check it out and you sill see what i mean. make sure where that hole is. if you spin the bearing in with hole not aligned with slot, bearing will never get any grease.

I think the new bearings aren't greasable

You are correct, the only place I can find the older ones are on Ebay. I just use new, about the same price as the greasable.

Think about it they put non greasable bearings in autos for decades and they run for thousands of miles with no problems.

For the transom plate? That sounds way too tight.

I read here on OSO some one said jump on your sterndrives - the objective is to see if the transom flexes.
If it does, it probably has rot.

I thought that idea was definately worth a try.