Cracked Lower Bellows is this OK

[Robertpel9]

Just put my boat back in the water for the year last week. While doing my pre launch inspection and cleaning I do in the spring i found some substantial cracking in the bellow that is the "lowest one" (I see two when i trim the drive all the way up, one is up higher and shorter and then this is the lower and longer one

I have a Volvo SX drive. I was told that the top bellow hose is the Ujoint one and the bottom one is the exhaust bellow hose. The top one is mint and looks brand new (Perhaps the previous owner replaced it), the bottom one has cracking int he deep part of the ribs, there is one spot where it looks like it may be cracked deep enough to be cracked all the way thru but i am not sure, i can say it is wearing out

I know this fall i will have the drive pulled and replace both of them. My friend is a marine mechanic and he said the lower hose as i said is the exhaust and it will not let water in the boat and is nothing to worry about. I just want to confirm that this is consistent with what you guys know on here.

I was not worried about it as i used the boat three times this week and it performed flawlessly and no water intrustion was seen while floating around out there for 3 hours at a time. It has been raining here for three days and i went down to check on the boat today as i had waterproofed the cover and wanted to see how good it did with this pouring rain (It did well). When i stepped on the rear deck i heard the bilge pump kick on and it ran for about 30 seconds and pumped out a decent amount of water (Not sure how much gets pumped out in 30-40 seconds). I am pretty sure it is just because of the weather here but my paranoid mind has me wondering if this cracked lower bellow could be letting water in the boat

Is this lower one the exhaust bellow and can it let water into the boat?? Am i ok with the boat in the water as is

 

[Don S]

Re: Cracked Lower Bellows is this OK

If the boat is in the water, the exhaust bellows always has water in it. Your boat would not leak if it was completely missing. But with it, you can keep the transom cleaner and the exhaust going out through the prop like it was designed to do.
It's an easy fix, but you do have to pull the outdrive to replace it.
You should be removing your drive yearly (Normally during winterization) to lube the ujoints, gimbal bearing, and the coupler splnes, especially the coupler splnes, and checking the alignment.
So, if all that has already been done, I would say wait till fall when you winterize again, then change the bellows when the drive is off. But if the other stuff hasn't been done, might want to consider doing it before putting the boat in the water the next time.

 

[Robertpel9]

Re: Cracked Lower Bellows is this OK

Thanks Don

I just want to verify that on a Volvo SX drive the lower of the two bellows that i can see when i trim the drive up is the exhaust and the upper is the ujoint one, is that correct?

Any reason why the upper one looks brand new while the lower shows a decent amount of wear?

 

[Don S]

Re: Cracked Lower Bellows is this OK

Yes, the lower one is the exhaust bellows. Why the upper one looks like new, maybe it was replaced before. Being a 95 I would hope it's been replaced more than once.