Alpha 1 Gen 2 u joint bellows leak

[nickmo]

Pulled the boat for the winter and pulled the drive. There is a small amount of water in the bellows. The gimbal bearing doesn't turn smoothly so i will replace that. The u joints seem ok, but will replace them also. My question is: The yokes are a bit rusty, not pitted, seems to be only surface rust. What if anything needs to be done with them?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Nothing. The bit of surface rust won't hurt anything.

 

[nickmo]

Thanks Rick. That's what I thought, but needed confirmation.

 

[nickmo]

I have the sealed u joints. ( no zerks ) Should I replace them? They move smoothly.

 

[Rick Stephens]

If they are perfect, run em. You know if they start to growl you'll be swapping them out.

 

[bspeth]

Why is there water in the bellows? Did the big Oring get messed up on assembly or does the driveshaft bellows leak?

 

[nickmo]

A friend and I replaced the shift cable this past spring. When we were in there, we decided to change the bellows and gimbal bearing. We didn't use bellows adhesive. He told me he had changed lots of them and never used adhesive. The drive shaft bellows let go on the transom side. It only leaked when the drive was up or I guess there would be a good chance of sinking he boat as it is slipped. I'm not sure if it let go because adhesive wasn't used or it just wasn't on correctly. BTW the exhaust bellows let go too, but that doesn't cause any damage.

 

[bspeth]

The UJ bellows has a big rib which fits into a groove on the transom,my guess is that it was not seated properly when installed. Although I would always use adhesive (9 bucks on a 200 dollar repair) I do think that it was not properly seated or clamped. So you are pulling it apart any way so reseal the drive and inspect your yoke closely as a rusted shaft probably caused the seal failure and likely water intrusion into the gear case.Get back at us when you get the drive pulled.The book does tell all on a bellows job.