Transom Seal question....... Merc Alpha 1

[Fiat4Fun]

So, let me see if I can make a long story short. I have a 1986 Chris Craft 210 with a 5.7 Merc, Alpha One outdrive. Boat has about 900 hours on it. Many years ago, I hit the skag on a rock, and it locked up my lower drive. Had it replaced, and then the upper went. So I bought a new Merc Outdrive. Ever since, I have had a little bit of water coming into the bilge. I had all the bellows replaced, shift cable, etc.
I then took it to a fiberglass guy to check it out. He did not see any rot or signs of a bad transom. I took it to a Mercruiser shop, and they could not find any issues. However, they thought the only explanation is a bad transom. So, either way, the motor needs to come out. The cost to do the transom was quoted at about 7-8K. They suggested that I run the boat for the summer, then fix it during the winter. One of the old timers around here thinks that the boat hitting the rock, may of "popped" the transom seal.
My thought is, I should pull the engine myself, and see what's happening.
I am good with that, and thinking of ways to get the engine out, with crane or something, but wanted to see if any of this makes any sense? I assume I will be able to detect where the water is getting in once I get it apart and deal with it from there. This is a old boat, and seems worth fixing, but wondering how deep I should go. If the keyhole is rotten, then I can take it to a boat guy and have the transom rebuilt. But could it be just that the gasket is bad? I bilge pump does get the water out when we are on the lake all day.

Should I post this in another area on the forum?

Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
Bob

 

[Bondo]

If the keyhole is rotten, then I can take it to a boat guy and have the transom rebuilt. But could it be just that the gasket is bad?

Ayuh,..... I rather doubt it's the gasket, but pullin' the motor is the 1st step, regardless the problem,.....

 

[Bt Doctur]

Takes a good strike but with a solid transom that shouldnt happen. Could have snapped a mounting bolt and popped the seal too. If only the seal, pull the motor, pull the housings and replace the seal

 

[TunaFish389]

I had water coming in from my transom seal. The front motor mount was roited when I got it which I didn't know. This maded the front of engine sag putting the drive on an angle. This causes a gap on the bottom of drive. It didn't help that some of the bolts were an inch from being seated!

I was able to see where the water was coming in at the time. You should be able to also. It took me four full days pulling drive, transom plates and motor with reinstall.

Check your transom plate bolts to see if they are loose. Get a light and find where that leak is coming from. It would suck to pull all that stuff just to find its leaking somewhere else.

 

[Rick Stephens]

The foam seal that is the transom seal on a Mercruiser is a pretty pathetic thing.

It is not that hard to take a drill and make a couple holes low down on the transom, closer to bottom of keyhole, the better, and see wood condition. A tube of 5200 to plug the test holes is a permanent fix as long as you don't drill through the outside glass layer.

Hard part of a motor removal is building or renting a hoist of some sort. Heard of a few guys that for a reasonable cost had a tow truck come by and pull the prepared motor and set it on a dolly for them in a few minutes time. A disconnect of a motor in a sterndrive is much much simpler than on a car. Depends on the arrangement of seating and padded covers how much other stuff has to come out, but most smaller boats aren't too bad once you remove seats and doghouse.

 

[TunaFish389]

I got mine motor out with an engine lift. It was close but did clear. I dropped the trailer tounge all the way down and took wheels off trailer so I could lower rear. I would say top of stern was about four foot.

 

[scoflaw]

The foam seal that is the transom seal on a Mercruiser is a pretty pathetic thing.

This.... This 10 dollar piece of crap has probably destroyed more transoms than we could possibly count