was out yesterday and all was well until we stopped and anchored at the sand bar for about 2 hours had drive up 100% during that time when we left i had 8 inches water in bilge pumped it out looked everything over all was well again got home and checked shift cable and driveshaft bellows all looked good so today i put plug in and filled bilge with water and low and behold the leak appeared, not what i expected, its leaking around the transom assembly was not ready for this, i have mechanical skills and maintain my boat myself but this is uncharted territory any help would be greatly appreciated, steve

Got any pictures so we can see where your talking about

Could be leaking at the Gimbal? Around the Steering/Gimbal pin, Is there "side to side" slop in the outdrive?

i tryed to snap pics as it was leaking but they did not come out, its literally coming out between transom assembly and transom of boat, as for play in drive up and down is tight side to side is maybe half inch at most i was not sure if i just sealed the joint from drive to boat transom if that would work, thats where it is coming from

Sounds like that is worth a try, does the caulking that is there now look bad

you can try caulking the joint between the assembly and transom but that really isn't the right way to fix it long term........and you don't want to know what is the "right" way.




(remove drive, remove engine, remove transom assembly, re-assemble with new bedding.....you might be able to remove the drive and loosen the transom assembly enough to gap it out a 1/2 inch and fill the void with 4,200, then re-tighten to seal the leak)

u are right thats rediculous, as for visable sealant i see nothing, i figured it was behind transom, i have some 5200 that i'm gonna try even though that stuff sucks to work with, and hope for the best thanks abunch for everyones advice,


steve

just remember, your transom is wood.....you don't want to chance water getting in there!!!!

on my last boat this was the first indication I got of a rotten transom. Started leaking water inbetween the transom assy and the transom. Upon further investigation found that the soft transom had allowed the mounting hardware to have enough give to leak

Chances are it's been leaking for awhile now. I wouldn't try to bandaid the problem and possibly make the transom worse than it already might be. Sooner or later your going to have to do it the right way anyway. Has the transom assy ever been off the boat? What year boat? Use that 5200 and theres another job to do later, removing it, besides looking like crap. Maybe just silicone it to get thru the end of the season but now that its wet between there it probly won't stick where it needs to. Sounds like that side to side slop needs attention anyway. 1/2" play? In the steering? Salt water boat? The bottom transom bolts are probly rotted off.