When to change bellows on a SX-A drive?

[dan02gt]

Hello guys I have a 2014 Chaparral with a Volvo Penta SX-A outdrive. I've owned it 2 years and know that the pervious owner kept it serviced. The boat has 70 hours on it and is well cared for. I'm currently working my way through winter maintenance and was thinking about pulling the drive and doing the bellows. They currently look to be in good shape, but manual says to do it every 2 years. So would you order the special tools, pull the drive and pivot ring to do the bellows for peace of mind or let it ride another year?

 

[BRICH1260]

I would go ahead and plan on pulling the drive and not just for the bellows. It is a procedure that needs to be done annually to inspect not only the bellows but also the gimble, input shaft and alignment. It`s best to catch any problems early rather than to let those parts sit in water for years. The first time can be intimidating but actually it`s not that bad and once you have done it a time or two, it becomes second nature. get a manual, go slow, build you a stand and give it a try.

 

[Lou C]

I would pull the drive and inspect the gimble bearing and u joints. If they are grease-able I'd grease them but these newer boats usually have permanently lubed gimble bearings and u joints. For the bellows, with the drive off tilt up the pivot housing and look in the folds closely with a bright LED flashlight. If you see any small cracks forming its time to change it. Over time the rubber gets stiffer and then the crack get bigger and that lets in water. So if you replace when you first see small cracks you can avoid that. When you have the old bellows off and compare it to a new one you can see and feel how the rubber stiffens up over time.

 

[dan02gt]

Would you guys recommend just pulling the gimbal ring to replace the bellows? I have the Volvo Manual, but it's more a complete disassembly and reassembly manual and not "here's the steps to replace just the bellows".
Do you guys use any bellow glue on them? The manual shows only using grease so that was my plan.
There are tons of videos on the SX-M but nothing on the SX-A btw.

 

[Horigan]

You remove the pivot housing from the the gimbal ring/assembly. If it's like an SX-M, you'll need a large allen hex socket to remove the pivot housing. It makes the bellows replacement much easier and ensures you get them installed and sealed correctly.

Grease is all you need for both bellows; on the gimbal housing end for both and the pivot housing end for the U-joint bellows.

 

[dan02gt]

You remove the pivot housing from the the gimbal ring/assembly. If it's like an SX-M, you'll need a large allen hex socket to remove the pivot housing. It makes the bellows replacement much easier and ensures you get them installed and sealed correctly.

Grease is all you need for both bellows; on the gimbal housing end for both and the pivot housing end for the U-joint bellows.

Thanks for the info. I was thinking about removing the pivot housing. The SX-A did away with the allen bolts and requires a tool to remove the pivot pins. So I think I will order that it's only about $60.

 

[further]

Video of Bellows Replacement | Boating Forum - iboats Boating Forums

If you search the forum, there are many threads with links to videos on youtube and If I recall someone did step by step a while back that used to be a sticky but is now gone.

 

[dan02gt]

Video of Bellows Replacement | Boating Forum - iboats Boating Forums

If you search the forum, there are many threads with links to videos on youtube and If I recall someone did step by step a while back that used to be a sticky but is now gone.

Yes there are many on the SX-M and I've watched some of them. I have the SX-A. It's significantly different than the SX-M. The exhaust bellow design is different, the pivot pin design is different, the gimbal bearing design is different, and the trim system is different. I just want to make sure I'm doing the job the SX-A procedure and not the SX-M procedure as what is correct for one might not be correct for both.