You couldnt do the same thing by removing the drive and taking the gimbal housing off??

Well its going in tomorrow, so well see talked to guy on the phone he already tore this drive apart this year and seems to think its the bellows still. But I would think 4-5hours at least into an engine take out and reinstall. What would that be costing me to take the engine out and in then do this repair, vs buying the 52 buck kit

If you"re paying someone then use the kit!!

You can"t get to the swivel seal from the outside without cutting the housing like that kit does.

If a bellows is leaking it will leak UNDER the driveshaft.

ok thanks. Yeah its not below. And it was definitely worse with 3-4 people on back then noboy back there. So I guess we see.

Yep - normally with weight on the back the seal gets more water splashed on it and leaks more!

Also - coming down off plane when the water rolls up the back of the transom it lets more in.

Hopefully you get it sorted out cheaply....

yeah me too. I also noticed that if I lift up the hatch after running the right manifold where it meets the tip(the rubber connector) is a little wet and above that on the hatch is sprayed with water. This is what it was doing before this massive amount of water came in yesterday. I couldnt narrow it down till yesterday either. I check the manifold and nothing. So only I can think was the water was dripping down on to the drive shaft and it was wining it up.

Check the exhaust side of the system - I have had a one of those rubber exhaust boots split and blow water out at speed. It can go everywhere if that happens.

I've also had leaks in the captains choice system (if you have one) where the rotation rods went through the exhaust. Be sure you track down where it is coming from before spending much money on it.

I would say it is the steering shaft seal.

+1

+2

I've had the swival shaft nut back off on me causing the shaft to drop and the seal to unseat. once this happens, the seal usually dry rots and the shaft rusts. have to replace the shaft and seal. check to see if the gimbal ring is sitting lower than the other side. I used the jrmarine kit to fix it.

First pull the drive off and see if there is water in the u-joint bellows. This will help you determine where the leak is at.