Seal in the transom plate
 

I noticed a few weeks ago, I was getting a lot of water in the bilge. My pumps were coming on and off every couple of hours. That same day I was at the beach and noticed that it was coming in faster when the drive was up.

When I put the boat on the trailer and started looking around the drive, I noticed that one of my boots, the one for the shifter cable was cracked and broken. I had all of the boots and bellows replaced as well as the shifter cable.

Low and behold, I get the boat in the water and it is still taking on water. It was not taking on as much as before, maybe 2 to 3 gallons in 24 hrs. I took it back to my mech and he says it is the seal in the transom plate and the seals around the pin in the gimbal. I know about the pin seals in the gimbal, my buddy had the same thing a couple of seasons ago. They had to drill a couple of holes in the gimbal to get to it and put plugs in the drilled holes when they were done.

My mech says that he will not have to drill these holes because he will be replacing the seal in the transom plate and have it off already. He says it will take him about a day and cost around $400 to do.

My questions are does this sound about right, I have never had to screw around with this situation before. I told him that I have plans with the boat in the next couple of weeks out of town, he says that it wont be a problem to wait, it's not going to hurt anything to run it. What do you guy's think.

Danny

you can run it and it wont be a problem as long as you fix it as soon as you can. you dont want to depend on the bilge pump to keep it high and dry. good luck. you have to pull the engine to remove the gimble so $400.00 sounds about right.:D

Although it's rare having to replace transom seals, I just had to have mine replaced. It's ~8 hr job to replace a $10 seal (motor has to be pulled). The risk you run of not fixing it ASAP is water getting inside your transom, possibly causing rot/ weakening of transom over time.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info guys. I will have it fixed soon I will only be using the boat for a one day at a time over the next couple of weekends and then it goes back on the trailer after each day.

He did say he would have to pull the motor and he said that it would take him a whole day so everything seems to jive with what you guys are telling me.

I would think a solid day if all goes right. Is there any chance that just tell you get it done that you can find the break in the gasket and fill it with silicone or something?

Jon

I wish there was a mechanic like that in Chicago. I just got charged twice that to replace the gimbal shaft seal. They didn't even have to pull the engine - they just went in through the sides.