Mercruiser 230 Alpha 1 water coming in through transom

[clattin]

My boat is an 87 Chris Craft 196 LTD BR with the Mercruiser 230 Alpha 1. This summer I've been getting a LOT of water coming through the transom. The bilge pump has been handling it, but I'm worried that it won't one of these days.

I've leaned way down there when we're in the water to see if I can identify where its coming in but I can just see it running down the transom from the bottom of the bell housing (on the inside of the engine compartment). The bellows appear to be intact.

I've never take an outdrive off and not sure where to even start. Could you guys point me in the right direction? I have the service manual for the outdrive. It looks like there's a bell housing gasket kit that's less than $10. That sounded like a likely culprit to me. What else should I replace while I have the outdrive off? Will I need any special tools?

Thanks so much!
Chris

 

[steve limbert]

Bellows

 

[nola mike]

Outdrive is easy to take off, and it should be part of yearly maintenance. See achris videos for a how to. You should also get an alignment tool while you're at it (they're on eBay). Is this boat new to you? Salt or fresh water? Does the water come in with the engine running or off? On muffs or just on the water? Some likely suspects in addition to the bellows are the y pipe or a rotten transom. I'll sure others will chime in with others that I'm not thinking of...

 

[Rick Stephens]

When you pull the drive out, jump up and down on the outdrive before you pull it off to check bellows. See if you can move it in relation to the transom. The outdrive is designed to handle thousands of pounds of force, so you can't hurt it that way, while you can tell if the transom is rotten and gotten loose.