How to check bellows

[skicat]

I recently bought a 2000 Celebrity with an alpha gen. II drive. It was always stored with the outdrive up, which I have read is a no-no. How do I check the bellows condition? Thanks

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: How to check bellows

I wouldn't worry too much, but take the drive off and look for water in the bellows. That boat shouldn't be old enough for the bellows to have rot yet.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: How to check bellows

If it is the original bellows,dont bother checking,just replace it.If you want to take a look,remove the drive and check between the folds,top and bottom and side to side.If you see ant small cracks or wear dont take any chances and replace it.You stand to loose too much to take a chance like that.Charlie

 

[rodbolt]

Re: How to check bellows

hello<br /> yep what Charlie said.<br /> or someone like me is gonna get a new pair of shoes .<br /> when merc bellows leak it does sveral nasty things. one is it trashes the gimbal bearing(60 bucks or so). two is it trashes the u-joints. 30 bucks or so apiece. 3 it trashes the drive yoke by rusting the seal area and if it rusts will cause the seal to leak oil into the bellows. thus possibly trashing the upper unit. the yoke is about 90 dollars. the labor to replace all of it is about4-5 hours. I dont know your shop rate but ours is 78 per hour.<br /> pay me now or pay me later.<br /> good luck and keep posting.<br /> PS the price of the bellows stayed the same

 

[skicat]

Re: How to check bellows

So you all think that just because a 2000 alpha gen. 2 with only 100 hours on it was stored with the outdrive up, I should take it in and have the bellows replaced? Sounds a little drastic to me.

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: How to check bellows

Let's not jump off the deep end here, gentlemen. If you replace one, you do it all. You don't replace this bellows this year, another bellows next year, and the last bellows the next year. That ends-up costing you three times the labor and three times the downtime. You do it when it's necessary, and you do it all (including the water pump). It's expensive any way you do it, but nickle and diming it costs a whole lot more than if you do it all at once. And you don't do it until it needs to be done. I hardly think 3 or 4 years is that big of a deal. I'd be keeping an eye on it all, but I'd expect at least five years out of any of these (with the exception of the water pump...no more than three), and I'd ask no more than ten.<br /><br />Take the drive off and see what you've got inside. Check the gimbal bearing, check the engine alignment, grease the splines, and grease the u-joints if you can. Check all of the bellows, the hose, the shift cable, the trim limiter and sender wires. Change the gearlube. Then go from there. If it's on a trailer or a lift, you don't need to worry about it being as perfect as if it were moored. Use your judgement.

 

[airman]

Re: How to check bellows

I'll go with Rodbolt and Charlie. Sorry Willy, but I respectfully disagree with you. The exhaust bellows can last as long as you like because it won't damage anything else but trying to squeeze an extra year out of the u-joint bellows is poor economy. Not only does it waste a lot of $ in damaging other parts but it will wreck a weekend of boating too. The number of hours on an engine doesn't affect the bellows, only the number of years they've been in the weather. The first (and only!) time a u-joint bellows cracked on me I ended up pumping with the hand pump for the whole ride home while the kicker motor pushed. If I hadn't had a spare motor you would add towing costs to the repair bill. Three (possibly 4) years is more than you can reliably expect from bellows.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: How to check bellows

I may be a bit drastic ,but whenever I buy a new(used) boat I have the whole bellows and shiftcable kit done so i start from scratch with everything that will eventually need to be replaced,REPLACED.Charlie

 

[hoot]

Re: How to check bellows

skicat, i trailered my boat, used it in fresh water mainly on weekends june thru september and parked it during the winter with the outdrive up and down. my drive bellows cracked last summer after 25 years of service (don't know the hours). i guess i was lucky for it to go this long. get a strong flashlight and some good eyes and do a visual inspection of all bellows with the unit up, and left and right. you will not see a crack in a compressed bellows so look on the stretched side. my split was around the bellows, not running along the length. if you keep the boat long enough, you will eventually replace all the bellows and a gimbal bearing.

 

[Doug Durako]

Re: How to check bellows

Is this your first I/O? If you are going to take the drive off yourself, I am with Willy----remove it, take your time, look around and learn something.<br /><br />If you are going to pay someone to inspect the bellows, might as well replace them because most of the expense is in the labor and you are going to pay that anyway.<br /><br />Hindsight is always clear---the best thing you could have done was try to use the age of the bellows as a negotiating point before you wrote the check to get a couple hundred bucks off the selling price.

 

[skicat]

Re: How to check bellows

ddboater- This is not my first boat, but is my first mercruiser. It is a 2000 5.7l alpha1 Gen2. My previous boats had OMC Sterndrives. I had a dealer winterize and change the water pump impeller. I also had the trailer wheels repacked. After reading this board for awhile I became concerned about the bellows. I don't want to screw up the outdrive this summer.

 

[Doug Durako]

Re: How to check bellows

Ski---I am still running on the original bellows and will continue on my rig until I see some signs of wear.<br /><br />If the dealer replaced the impeller in your drive, most likely they would have noticed if bellows had any issues.<br /><br />If you trailer your boat, as opposed to leaving it moored in the water, you can check the bellows every time you come out of the water. That's what I do.

 

[skicat]

Re: How to check bellows

Thanks dd. I do trailer my boat, so I will check the bellows on a regular basis. I feel better now.