Bellow leak check

[jmarty10]

I have my alpha one drive serviced every year by a pro who pulls drive, inspects and greases. No problems found last fall and impeller was changed. Last night after boating I had a little water in the bilge but not enough to set the bilge pump off. (probably a cup or two) A week ago, I drained my engine due to freeze temps and the water went into bilge and ski locker. I opened up drain plug, put bow up and alot of water drained. After my cruise last night I watched the back of the transom from inside and the wall was completely dry. Can I assume the u-joint bellows are not leaking if the wall is dry or does the leak into the boat come from another area? Simply stated: I dont know where to look for bellow leaks. Thanks

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Bellow leak check

This thread is dying a quick death. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Don S]

Re: Bellow leak check

The only way to tell if the bellows is bad is to pull the drive and see if there is water in the bellows.
If they are dry, then the leak is somewhere else. You just have to look until you find it. Anything on the boat could be leaking.
We can give you suggestions on how to fix leaks, but you have to find them to fix them. If everything is dry on the transom, spray it with some talcum powder and go for a run, you should see some streaks in the powder if there is a leak.

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Bellow leak check

Thank you. If there was a hole in the bellow and the boat was on the water for about 4 hours I would suspect there should have been enough water in the bilge to run the bilge pump, correct? Or do bellow leaks take a long time to fill up the bilge? Thanks again

 

[Don S]

Re: Bellow leak check

Depends on how big the hole is in the bellows, or if grease from the gimbal bearing is partially plugging the hole.