Water leak.....help
 

Hey all my Bird brothers, I have an '86 272 with SBC's and Alpha gen ones. I noticed a very light trickle of water coming in at the bottom of the port transome assy in the bilge. Not having my shop anymore or time I figured it was a bad bellows and took it to my local marina. They put it in their test tank (of course it didnt leak) and (without pulling the drive) visually inspected the bellows and said they look fine??? What else could it be? This must be something new because it didnt leak the first couple times out and it doesn't look like it has had any water in there previous??........thanks , Brad.

The bottom two bolts are where the anodes screw on to the studs. There is a seal where that bolt runs through the transom plate that can leak at times.

Brad,
Could be the hose or even a loose clamp on the hose that runs from the Transom assembly around to the water pump at the front of the engine. This thing is in a vulnerable spot and with twins can be a PITA to get to. Try tightening the clamp and see if it's loose. There is a clamp at the hose connection behind the bell housing.

John, I will check the hose connection when I pick it up.

aquaforce, if its the seal for those bolts I would need to pull the drive to change them?

Thanks for the help guys. The marina is pretty good but they were like "I dont see a leak so dont know what to tell you". I told them exactly where it was leaking from and sure didnt make it up just to bring my boat in....lol. I will let you know what I find out.......Brad.

Yep, you should have just sold it to me man!!! :party-smiley-004:

After working on mine "a bit", I have two things to look at. Check for corrosion on your exhaust block off plate at the bottom of the inner transom bracket. Both of mine need to be replaced.

The other one is the bolts that were mentioned. The bottom two bolts on the alpha's are aluminum carraige bolts put in from the outside. There is a square hole rubber washer that goes on the bolt before it is pushed through. Mercruiser warns that ommision of this washer will cause a leak. You might want to check there also. The nuts can be removed from the inside and tap out the bolts for replacement.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

Brian

can you see the back of your motor and steer tiller?

see if there is brown residue on the tiller arm

your not going to like what I think your leak is

Just like befu said, those bolts can be handled without removal of the drive or plates.

If steering shaft bushings are worn, where I think obnoxus is going, then it gets $$$$ and removal is required.

Pray its not time for that. If so...find a good used transom and gimball assy and swap it in...much cheaper.

Once again, thanks guys for all the help. I have a few things to check out when I pick it up tomorrow (well actually today since I work midnights...lol). Im taking it right to the lake and really try and see exactly where its leaking. On a side note the marinia did find the shift cable boot on the starboard side to have a pretty good split in it (dry rot), which makes sense because I was kind of surprised the tiny leak on the port side would put that much water in the bilge. I will check the tiller arm and cross my fingers on that. As John said, if thats the case I will just shop around for a good used transome and gimble assy.
Brian as said before I was just lucky enough to beat you to the punch on my boat....lol...but I must commend you on the fine job you are doing to your 272....maybe sometime I will bring mine north and a pair of 86 272's can hit Lake Michigan.....Brad.

Will be interested in seeing what it is, keep us informed.

Actaully we are headed your way. We are heading to jellystone campground the second week of May for a week of camping and Kentucky hospitallity! We just got home from our first camping trip at a local state park, good way to break in the season. One more there in two weeks and then we tow it south.

Brian

Ok guys, sorry I didn't get back on sooner had a busy weekend. Well took it out Friday and I really crawled (well stuffed more like...6'2" 250lbs...lol) in to really look at everything and Murphy's Law wasn't against me this time...lol...there was a very light trickle coming from the inside bottom bolt through the transome plate so it looks like the rubber washer in that hole is leaking. The steering tiller arm looked fine on both sides....whew:cool: and the water feed hoses/clamps as well as the exhaust block offs. Thanks guys for pointing me in the right direction.
Brian, if I'm thinking of the same place you will be in Cave City which is only half an hour north of Bowling Green. Could take you guys for a ride on Barren River Lake. It's a very nice, deep lake with a really pretty cliff lined shore. Let me know......Brad.

Get those lower bolts sealed up soon. That pathway is through the transom and can wet the wood. Well, will most likely wet the wood.

Ok guys bringing this one back up. I took the boat to the shop to have the two lower bolts changed (since I dont really have time due to my work schedule) and they told me that they couldnt get them out without pulling the motor???? So now I am picking it back up to change them out myself. so my question is how is the best way to do this? I know you take the nut off on the inside and tap them out, but there isnt much room to get in there with a hammer to do so. Any tricks to make it easier? Thanks.......Brad.

Brad...try using a long steel bar like a piece of re-bar. I think about 12"~ 14" might work.

Once I took the inside nuts off of mine I was able to pull them out from the outside...no big deal.

You could probably do a single with the engine in place...not with twins...no way unless you have 5' arms and 12' fingers.:evilb:

If you're going to be set up to pull one...you "might as well" ( I find that I say that alot) pull both and get both sides while you're at it.

if the bolt through the transom assembly is leaking...i would be more curious as to why you lost the seal. the thru bolts dont typically leak especially with the amount of pre-load on them. interesting...

John,
Just to be clear, are you saying I will have to pull the motors in order to change them? I was really hoping to not have to do that.

to be honest, you will likely have to pull the motor on any transom assembly related work especially if you plan to work from the inside. there is simply no room to access bolts with the motor in the way. im still hard pressed to think the thru bolts are leaking. the outside assy plate is studded and the inside plate is slid on and bolted from the inside. how could water be getting thru a studded connection from the outside plate? that doesnt make any sense.

On mine, two of the four lower bolts were so corroded, that they snapped when I went to remove them. I think one came out fine (looks new), one had corroded in two and the other two didn't come out. The nut fell off inside, the head came off with the transom assembly leaving the body of the bolt in the transom.

One I was able to use a screwdriver and drive the chunk out, the other didn't want to move. So I used a drill bit and drilled it out, that went really easy.

Now my question, the lower bolts on mine were aluminum. Is this standard and are yours? If so, you might be able to drill it out. Or, drill/grind the carriage bolt head and shoulder off and then drive the remainder into the boat untill it drops out. I would try to help you out, but mine doesn't have motors still. Maybe one next week, we will see.

First thing I would find out is it Aluminum.

Brian

Don't do it, don't fall for it. I did, and I kept digging at projects down into the engines untill i hit the trailer! now I am moving rollers, new brakes, new tires, new coupler, new seals........ That doesn't even include the motors I dug through! Yikes!!! I HATE that phrase, "might as well". :lolhit:

Brian

The first Bravo designs were just like the Alpha with the two bottom bolts passing through both the outside and inside assemblies. Later the Bravo became studded on all holes. The bottom bolts were aluminum for grounding and anti corrosion. They leak way to easy.


Personally I didn't like it and on my old Bravo I got rid of the aluminum bolts and sealed stainless bolts with silicone like underwater equipment should be.

Brad, have you or they tried tightening it any? One of three things could happen I guess. it gets tighter and maybe seals, doesn't tighten, or nut snaps off due to corroded bolt.


I am replacing mine with stainless steel also. put silicone in and around the hole, then pushed the bolt through with the washer and tightened it up, looks good and sealed.

Now, mine will be a trailer queen so not really worried about the corrossion and fresh water only, planning on keeping my inside storage, so kind of a pampered life now.

Still going to be running it next week? yep, going to be at the jellystone by the entrance to mammoth cave, kids are excited about the vacation.

Brian, we do still plan on being out there next weekend. You will have to let me know what your schedule is going to be. And fyi, take your kids to Kentucky Down Under. We just took my daughter and two year old granddaughter there last week and it is really cool for the kids.
Ok back to my leak headache...lol...they are aluminum bolts and I feel I could just grind the shoulder off and knock it though but I did notice something Saturday while out looking for this little leak. If I back the boat in on the trailer (which puts those bolts plenty underwater) there is no leak?? It isnt until its off the trailer and completly in the water befor it leaks but it still looks like its coming from that same bolt?? This has really got me puzzled....I want to fix it but now Im not sure where it is.....HELP....lol.

Any updates on the b oat lately?