Alpha 1 Gen 2 - leak & transom service questions

[ShoalSurvivor]

Ayuh,..... If the transom bolts are loose, it's because the transom is Rotten,....

well, I guess I find that out soon enough. Not sure if you saw the part about striking the drive in the driveway when reversing. Perhaps that jarred it enough, but the salt water intrusion for the season may have caused its own damage.

 

[ShoalSurvivor]

Update:
I pulled the engine, reinstalled the drive and submerged my boat at the ramp. As before, the water accumulated in the trim hose cavity at the bottom of the transom bracket. I found that the lower transom nuts were not-tight and movable.

I pulled the boat out and could observe water leaking out from the bottom of the gimble housing to transom connection, behind the trim manifold, on the exterior.

I snugged the nuts. There was no cracking, crunching sounds or play. I then re-submerged and there was NO LEAK. I poked around the bracket and inside the cavity and all the wood feels solid. *I REALIZE THAT THERE COULD STILL BE ROT*, and I will do some test bores to verify. If there is rot, I'll get that resolved first. if not,

My plan is to remove the Y-Pipe and replace the gasket, and while I have it off, check for rot, then torque the bracket bolts to specification.

I will be replacing the bellows and trim sensors, and trim manifold gasket when I rebuild, so the bell housing is coming off. This is a 25 year old boat with original bellows (which were not leaking). I'm also replacing all water hoses, and the front timing cover and seal while the engine is out.

Question: should I loosen the transom bracket bolts, flush with salt away (salt water has been introduced), and either replace the bracket ORING or (don't shoot me) apply a marine silicone sealant before torquing the bracket down? I'd like to avoid tearing out the transom assembly but will, if that's the best approach. Can I replace the seal without ripping the transom assembly apart?

Are there other parts I should look to replace while the engine is out and bell housing disassembled? I have a replacement shift shaft bearing, but mine is not leaking. I replaced the shift cable and cable bellows a couple years ago.

Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

I snugged the nuts. There was no cracking, crunching sounds or play. I then re-submerged and there was NO LEAK. I poked around the bracket and inside the cavity and all the wood feels solid. *I REALIZE THAT THERE COULD STILL BE ROT*, and I will do some test bores to verify. If there is rot, I'll get that resolved first. if not,

Ayuh,..... Anything is possible, but of the 100s of boats I've crawled through, the only cases of those bolts/ nuts getting loose, is because the wood it rotten,.....

 

[ShoalSurvivor]

Ayuh,..... Anything is possible,

drilled 7 holes around sides and under bracket. all within 1/4” of bracket. Up 2” above where water sat in cavity.. Shavings are clean. no sign of rot.

I scraped the surface inside the cavity and the wet material is < 1mm. clean and hard underneath.

my instinct is to loosen the transom brackets, scrape wet surface to hard wood, clean rinse with salt-away, and Let it dry out before resealing.

I’ll fill these bore holes with silicone before rinsing.

i could remove the whole bracket to bore underneath, but that seems like overkill at this point. I think that I have plenty of solid wood for the Bracket to torque down Against a new o ring

 

[Jmunk]

May want to consider filling your drill holes with resin or 5200. Either would provide a good seal and last for the life of the boat.

 

[Jmunk]

While you’re doing the bellows you may want to consider swapping out the gear lube fitting if yours is the composite material that they switched to. For the few dollars it’s a no-brainer given you have excellent access now.

 

[ShoalSurvivor]

I was considering that. it’s sitting in my cart among with a few other last minute parts (composit bell housing washers, water tube bushing).
i pulled the connector and E-ring off the inside, but the fitting was not pushing through easily. does it need persuasion, or twist out?

 

[ShoalSurvivor]

does it need persuasion, or twist out?

no. Not much It’s out

 

[Jmunk]

With the engine in the hardest part of the gear lube fitting is putting the e-clip back on. It can be a pain depending on how much access you have.

 

[ShoalSurvivor]

With the engine in the hardest part of the gear lube fitting is putting the e-clip back on. It can be a pain depending on how much access you have.

Big UPDATE:

It's out. It's all out. The power steering and the transom assembly have been removed.

the CULPRIT: The exterior gimble housing seal was toast. that's clearly where the leak came in. The rubber was brittle, broken and flat against the transom assembly. effectively, ZERO gasket. The drive strike must have knocked it loose enough to break the seal.

The lower 4 bolts/nuts of the transom assembly have corrosion. the uppers are clean.

Transom status: I bored more test holes within the area of the transom mount and all are dry. The wood is solid and dry all around the cutout. there is no cracking on the gel coat, and the transom layers are all solid and uniform. (no cracks or splitting). the transom wall is uniform thickness all the way around.

the corroded bolt holes obviously have some rot in inside, but they still feel solid with a screwdriver poke.

With no residual moisture, softness, splitting, etc., I would be inclined to remount with a fresh seal, but the the hammer test around the cutout was slightly hollow sounding (compared to other areas of the transom). The top looks fine,


the bottom looks worse,

but the sound around the cutout is uniform.

I'm going to take it to a local transom guy for an inspection, and see what they say.

 

[ShoalSurvivor]

I'm going to take it to a local transom guy for an inspection, and see what they say.

Happy to report that they agreed with my assessment. Transom appears dry and solid. I will do a torque test with some plywood and bolts to make sure the torque holds, but a transom rebuild is not warranted.

thanks to all who contributed!

Couple questions:
1) I broke off the continuity screw on the inner transom bracket and one on the outdrive. Should I just install a new one next to the old and leave the broken off screws where they are? drill them out and pick up a larger self-tapping SS screw? Any comments or suggestion?

2) the lower 4 studs on my transom assembly have surface corrosion.
Is it worth replacing them (any risk with removing studs from transom assembly)? or, if the integrity is not compromised, should I just wire brush them off and chase the threads (and replace the nuts)?

thanks!