U-Joint Bellows small amount of water/ Alpha one

[Benny67]

Wanna pick some brains here...

I pulled my drives off for winter storage and found that my port side u joint bellow had a small amount of water in it. Not much, but none the less some water.

My rubber is 2 seasons old and OEM, not after market stuff and at a quick inspection, seems perfectly fine. I did see the big round o ring inside the had a small nick in it but was not torn through. The U joint and gimbal bearing had a bit of surface rust, but not enough to make me think it was a leak that was happening all season. The drive gasket itself was intact and clean.

The entire season there was no water in the boat..not once did the bilge kick on. Funny thing is late in the season when I looked at my pump it was having difficulty pulling what residual rainwater that was down at the very bottom. It was getting stagnant so I knew it was not being refreshed with new leaking water.

I'm thinking maybe the seal for the shift shaft might be weeping and working it's way into the bellow?

I'll dig into it over next weekend but wanted to see what some of you others might have seen similar to this in the past so I can hopefully find it quickly.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Shift shaft area or a leaky water passage o-ring. Can be the bushing seal on the intermediate shift shaft. I'd count on replacing it. The big square o-ring doesn't do more than maybe keep water out if there is a leak in the shift shaft pocket.

Rick

 

[Benny67]

The big square o-ring doesn't do more than maybe keep water out if there is a leak in the shift shaft pocket.

Rick

Yea...figured that ring is a fail safe for the u joint...and to tell you the truth I think most the water was trapped in the shift chamber because it leaked out just as I broke the drive loose, not when I slid it out.

The Bellow did have a small amount of water in it but the u joint and the gimbal bearing had no real rust damage. Chances are it leaked in the shift are and possibly wept into the bellow over time...meaning water made it past the inner ring seal.

Thanks for the input...at least I have 4 to 5 months to sort it out.

 

[bspeth]

I agree with Rick