Early last year I replaced both my Shift cable and U-Joint Bellows. Everything seemed fine last year, I never had any water in the bilge. I took the boat out for the first time this year and after about 10 minutes heard a very loud growling coming from the back. Today I took the outdrive off and noticed brown muddy water in the U-Joint bellow and the gimbal bearing has a gritty feel so I’m assuming that’s where the sound is coming from. I plan on replacing the gimbal but I’m confused where the leak is coming from since we used bellow’s adhesive on both ends and it seemed to be sealed fine and I can’t see anything that would have rubbed a hole in it. On a side note something else strange has begun happening……when I first started the boat to unwinterize it I noticed muddy brown water (same color as in the bellow) come out the exhaust for the first 30 seconds or so when I normally get the pink antifreeze coming back out. It also did this on the first test ride when the gimbal started going. Any ideas on if this is somehow connected to the bellow water? Is there some way that the water inlet hose connection (where the outdrive meets the transom helmet) is somehow letting water into the u-joint bellow or vise versa that’s causing the leak or the brown water in my exhaust? It’s a 454 Mag MPI freshwater cooled that had a brand new exhaust system 2 years ago that’s run in fresh water; the outdrive seems fine, there wasn’t a spec of metal in the oil. Thanks

Also I just checked the rubber o-ring type gaskets that go between the drive and the transom assembly to make sure that it was correctly installed. It does have a seal around the spot where the water intake comes through......I couldn't see any tears in the seal but there was a little dirt and build up around it. Is it possible that this connection was leaking some water up into the U-Joint bellow while running but not enough to enter the bilge, then turning to rusty brown water after it sits a while and then possibly draining back down into the water inlet hose that I see when I first start the boat? I'm trying to think through every solution before I replace a brand new looking bellow which we all know is such a fun job

Dont be too concerned with the brown water coming out exhaust at start up , it's just light surface rust in manifolds getting flushed out . Most salt water boats with iron exhaust will huff a decent amount of brown water at start up , fresh water to a lesser extent. Also aftermarket OEM style manifolds ( Barr , Osco , GLM , ect ) have a different nickel content in the iron , making it a little less rust resistant , therefore a little more brown water. Dont know if this applies to you , but hope it helps.
As far as the bellows , even the best can get a leaker . Make sure end with clamp was seated in right position ( not pushed to far on or not far enough ) GOOD LUCK !!!!

Thanks, I appreciate the info! I have GLM's so that makes sense on the brown water. I went to mess with the bellow tonight and when I went to loosen the hose clamp on the front side of the bellow the screw was finger tight. I swear I tightened that down good last year when we replaced them so I don't know if it somehow worked it's way loose or what the heck happened but I'm sure that was letting the water in. I cranked it good and tight, I'm going to replace the gimbal bearing and hopefully this will fix it. Thanks again