Bellows change on AQ270

[Mullin]

I'm getting ready to do some overdue maintanace on my 1985 AQ125A/AQ270 bayliner capri.

First up it the drive bellows boot. It is cracked and leaking watery grease. I have found Don's picture to pull the upper gearbox. (http://forums.iboats.com/mercruiser...tdrives/outdrive-side-pin-removal-309095.html)

So what else should I buy aside from the bellows kit #69 Upper Gear Unit: Drive 270 - 7744630 - Volvo Penta

Also the stearing helmet has a lot of play moving up and down. Will parts 4 and 11 fix that? Connecting Components AQ120B, AQ125A - 7742840 - Volvo Penta

Any other advice on how-to or what to watch out for would be much appreciated.

 

[Don S]

Re: Bellows change on AQ270

Once you pull the upper gear box, pull the seal in the back of the flywheel cover and see if it's full of water too. If it is, you need to replace that bearing and seal too while you have things apart. Then start replacing that thin bellows before it gets holes in it. That is only an hours job at most.

 

[SteveMcD]

Re: Bellows change on AQ270

It looks like part #44 clamps on on your part #2 steering fork like my 280 drive. I think you need to loosen it and slide it down on the fork shaft to remove the excess slack. Part #4 is a rubber/elastomer seal . I don't know how big of a pain it will be to replace it without taking off the drive completely, but if it's crowding thirty years old it is worth looking into. Removing the upper gearbox may give you the room you need. There is no such thing as a boat with too few leaks.

 

[Mullin]

Re: Bellows change on AQ270

Ok thanks for the tips guys. I'll hopefully get over to the boat today or tomorrow and see if it will cooperate. This got pretty expensive when I added up all the parts and seals, about $250! I'll have to take Don's advice and keep up on this while it is a 1 hour $70 job instead.

 

[Mullin]

Re: Bellows change on AQ270

Well I finally got back to it. I got it taken apart and took a look around. There is some damage to the end of the flywheel housing, should I be concerned?:

There was a little oil here:

I pulled off the water connection to inspect it and it was all corroded and broke apart. But underneath it is a plastic bushing, this thing is all broken up too but stuck down in the slot around the the tube (steering knuckle tube?) It is 'mostly' intact but had some loose pieces, is it worth trying to break this down further to replace? If it's just a plastic spacer I'm thinking it's ok as is...

The u-joints and the upper look good to me, needs new o-rings though:

There are no zerk fittings for grease, what should I grease here?

I need a different seal puller to get out the seal around the shaft. I went ahead and ordered the seal and the bearing anyway as well as a second seal behind the bearing.

Once I got that plug off the helmet, the whole helmet slid down and out. I guess the stearing arm up inside the boat was just barely holding on!