trouble maker ll

got a question for you all...been a member before but not for a while...and many boats have come and gone. This regards a recent purchased 1988 Chapperal Villian lV...2 454s bravo 1 drives, 390 hrs...was stored indoors for last several years. Runs like a scalded dog...last week, first water use had water in the bilge...not enough to be worried...yesterday it had water coming in at an alarming rate. An inspection into the engine compartment revealed water virtually pouring in thru the gimbal, lower half, below the drive shaft. The bilge pump had a hard time keeping up with it. I know the exhaust belows runs next to the shift cable, but this was even too much water for a cracked belows, especially when the drive was down. What can you tell me about the rubber oval sleeve on the trans and its corresponding alum sleeve on the outer half ? All help is greatly appreciated By the way....the boat has thru hull exhaust and no exhaust goes thru the drive

seafordguy

Water can only come in a couple places. If it is above the drive shaft it is the swivel seal. If it's below than it is either the drive shaft bellows or the shift cable bellows which is split.

If it was coming in SO fast that the bilge could barely keep up I'm guessing it's the shift cable bellows - when that thing goes it leaves about a one inch whole in the boat!!!

n20michael

Just a "stab in the dark" but, how about a bad transom seal? or possibly a thru hull sender that leaks or wasn't sealed? Sounds like water was really pouring in though, like "Seaford" says there are really only a couple of places water can get in. I have had a bad gimble seal where the gimble ring was worn out by the gimble pin and tore the seal up, it leaked, but, not to the point of pouring into the boat, and this seal was BAD! you could move the outdrive about 6" side to side before the pin moved.

AO31

Water intake hose or the plastic fitting for it maybe?

keith2500hd

passage for trim cylinders also, bottom of transom. fear is transom shifting from usage, inspect for gaps on transom plate to transom surface.

seafordguy

Great Point Keith - if it is really coming in than the distribution block at the bottom of the Transom Assembly could certainly be the culprit, although those are the easiest thing to make sure you got sealed good.

UrbanDisturbance

Just to let you know, if the bravo drive is leaking, there is a good chance you have water in the wood of your transom. Could cause it to ROT. A lot of boat manufactures did not seal the cutout before they put the bravo drives on. I had this happen on a 1994 Cigarette Top Gun. The wood was wet, but I was lucky it was not rotten. That would cost $$$$ to fix.

trouble maker ll

all good thoughts guys.....but a close inspection revealed the culprit.....bravos have 2 styles of exhaust bellows,,,one is like an accordian and the other is a cup style that accepts the drive when down...the latter is what we have here and the drive caught the lip of the cup and collapsed it cauising no seal at all....since this boat has thru hull exhaust and no other option l sealed the transom side with a rubber cup...actually a plumbers pipe cap...used the factory ss clamps and sealed off all possibilities of water entering it again.....all good

Wildman_grafix

I don't understand, do you have silent choice? If so that shouldn't be the cause of the leak. Have you tested this yet?

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Better keep on looking. The exhaust bellows has ZERO effect on water getting into the bilge. You can leave it off and it won't leak inside!. Makes no difference if you have thru hull exhaust or thru the prop exhaust. Still doesn't matter.

Since you have thru hull exhaust only, and by plugging that bellows hole from the outside and the leak stopped, that means the block off plate is either leaking past the o-ring seal, or the plate itself is ate up.

You just put wrapped a leaking garden hose with duck tape.