Is that water I hear??

[iwldntli2u]

Was out with the wife on our '81 18 foot stingray with a mercruise 120 and Mercruiser R drive last weekend. We were both standing in the back of the boat and my wife said "Stop do you hear that, is that water coming in the boat. You can hear water coming in right at the top of the stern drive. It only comes in when a wave cover the stern drive. Does anyone know what this could be. I checked all of the bolts and they seem tight. Right on top of the stern drive is and opening with a grease fitting below it. Should i have a plug in the opening. IT is not a big deal because i just stay up front or turn the bilge on every once in a while. Any help would be great.<br />Thanks-

 

[AdmiralQ]

Re: Is that water I hear??

I'm not familiar with that model stern drive, so I'm not going to guess what that grease fitting is for, but it could possibly be for the gimbal bearing. However, a friend of my fathers had a problem similar to yours with water leaking into the boat, transom mount was fine, bolts tight, no leaking from the gasket. It ended up being a cracked driveshaft (u-joint) bellows. I would look to see if your bellows are normally above the water line. If they are, the bellows would only leak when a wave covers them. If you do have a cracked or broken driveshaft bellows, you will need to replace them right away, you could end up with some very costly damage otherwise.

 

[iwldntli2u]

Re: Is that water I hear??

That was my first thought, but the leak is much higher. If you are looking at the plate on the boat the stern drive is connected to the very top is where the water is coming in.<br />Thanks-

 

[Bondo]

Re: Is that water I hear??

Is your Hole maybe an Inch or two off Center ????<br />Sounds like someone has repaired the Gimbal Pin at sometime... When this is done 2 holes are drilled the the top of the housing... Then after the repair, Plastic Plugs are screwed into the holes..... You're Missing one of them..????