steering pin leaking Mercruiser Bravo 1
06-09-2022, 07:20 AM
#1
Registered
Thread Starter
steering pin leaking Mercruiser Bravo 1
Hey guys,
so i got hit with the ugly stick in the form of a leaking steering pin seal. I put the boat in the lake memorial day weekend and the sump was 100% dry, it had not rained and after 2 days i saw a little bit of water pooled at the back of the engine. Started digging around and saw a drip into he bilge from the back of the transom assembly. Went back to the boat the following day and no drip so I shop vacced out the water and went for a rip and sure enough the drip was back, turns out it is coming from where the steering shaft goes through the transom assembly so I know what that is.
I 100% do NOT want to cut the housing with the JR system and then have to bolt the plate on, I was planning on pulling the engine to freshen it up the end of the season. How hard of a process is this to perform with the engine out and leaving it for the season does it have a chance of putting the boat under? Now that I know about it every time I go to the boat I check and I suck any little water in it out but now its constantly on my mind the boat is in the lake seeping WATER. I looked back there and it looks really UGLY from what I can see and my fear is its just rotting the transom, am I ok wo wait out the season and in Sept pull it apart?
so i got hit with the ugly stick in the form of a leaking steering pin seal. I put the boat in the lake memorial day weekend and the sump was 100% dry, it had not rained and after 2 days i saw a little bit of water pooled at the back of the engine. Started digging around and saw a drip into he bilge from the back of the transom assembly. Went back to the boat the following day and no drip so I shop vacced out the water and went for a rip and sure enough the drip was back, turns out it is coming from where the steering shaft goes through the transom assembly so I know what that is.
I 100% do NOT want to cut the housing with the JR system and then have to bolt the plate on, I was planning on pulling the engine to freshen it up the end of the season. How hard of a process is this to perform with the engine out and leaving it for the season does it have a chance of putting the boat under? Now that I know about it every time I go to the boat I check and I suck any little water in it out but now its constantly on my mind the boat is in the lake seeping WATER. I looked back there and it looks really UGLY from what I can see and my fear is its just rotting the transom, am I ok wo wait out the season and in Sept pull it apart?
06-09-2022, 09:00 AM
#2
Registered
It shouldn't be that difficult with the engine out.
I did the JR fix on both of my drives as I didn't want to have to pull both engines. 4 years ago. It still seems fine to me.
I highly doubt you'd get enough water through that area to sink a boat, unless it sits below the water line, and you leave it in the water without checking it for a decade or two.
Mine had a slow leak (Same spot) I was unaware of for most likely years.
I get more water in the back from swimming all day than those leaks could do in a decade. (my sundeck drains to the bilge.. for... stupid reasons).
Many boats, that area is actually just out of the water at rest. you'd have to look at yours in the water. if it's out of the water, the chance that water gets in would be reduced. It would only then be under water when you take off.
Is your boat in the water all the time or only when in use? If it's the latter, I'd leave it until Sept.
While everything is out, I'd consider full hydro steering too. Love mine.
I did the JR fix on both of my drives as I didn't want to have to pull both engines. 4 years ago. It still seems fine to me.
I highly doubt you'd get enough water through that area to sink a boat, unless it sits below the water line, and you leave it in the water without checking it for a decade or two.
Mine had a slow leak (Same spot) I was unaware of for most likely years.
I get more water in the back from swimming all day than those leaks could do in a decade. (my sundeck drains to the bilge.. for... stupid reasons).
Many boats, that area is actually just out of the water at rest. you'd have to look at yours in the water. if it's out of the water, the chance that water gets in would be reduced. It would only then be under water when you take off.
Is your boat in the water all the time or only when in use? If it's the latter, I'd leave it until Sept.
While everything is out, I'd consider full hydro steering too. Love mine.
