Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Was winterizing my I/O the other day, had it on the muffs to warm it up and noticed water spraying from the exhaust bellows just aft of the clamp ( I think). Hard to tell if the bellows is torn or if the clamp is just not on right. I only have about 10 hours on it since the new motor was put in. I'm guessing they screwed it up then, although I admit it is the only time I've ever had this boat on the muffs so it may have leaked from day one.

My question is: Is this something I should fix immediately.......as in, fix it before I run it again in the Spring?
Or, does it even matter? My dealer is 160 miles away in St. Louis, from where the boat is. And I only go to St. Louis at the point of a gun.....or with one on my person. I am taking it to the dealer for it's 25 hour, new engine service next Spring after I get 15 more hours on it, so was thinking I'd have them fix it then.

What do you guys think?

Why don't you get rid of that POS ski boat and buy a toon?

It is a toon you old bastard

It has one big toon.......just like me.

My Starcraft's bellows are 10 seasons old and are still good (flexible). I'd try tightening the clamp and see if it stops. Water leaking out also means lake water can get in. Do you get water in the bilge ? I'd replace it if it wasn't a loose clamp as well as the other boots. (Mercruisers have 3).

i don't know volvo but a bellows leak on a mercruiser can mean water
intrusion to the u joints and gimbal bearing, which can cause them to
fail in short order. those parts are not cheap, and i'm sure are much
more on a volvo. if it was mine i'd fix it now.

FloterBoter wrote: if it was mine i'd fix it now.

Yep.

Thanks for your reply's. No water in the bilge, unless it rains when we're using it or the boat is in the water for two to three days straight.
I tried to tighten it yesterday. Very hard to get to but I managed to loosen it and tried to push the bellows on a little better, but I don't think I moved it at all. The boot looks and feels new, so it must be just positioned wrong.
I have already winterized it, so I think I'll have someone look at it next spring before I take it out.

again i don't know volvo, but merc bellows are mounted with bellows adhesive and then clamps, so they're not easy to adjust. if there's water in the bellows that protect the u joints, by spring they will rust up and you might loose the gimbal bearing, too. not being there to see the outdrive it's hard to tell from here. your boat, your call.

not sure about volvo, but merc sterndrives are to be pulled every fall to grease the coupling splines. sounds like you're not doing that. with the outdrive pulled, you can easily check for water in the bellows and replace the bellows if needed.

Flote, is yours an Alpha One Gen 2 drive ? Both of my boats have grease fittings for the coupler splines. It's hard as hell to get too (I had to make an extension for my grease gun to get to it) and you have to crank the motor so the fitting points up.

no, my drive's older, but i assume you mean zerk fittings on the coupler, which is bolted to the engine flywheel. i think most couplers don't have the fittings any more. i've replaced my coupler, and the old and new couplers didn't have the fittings. i've heard of boats with them, though. my service manual states that the outdrive is to be pulled once a year, and the experts i've talked with agree. after losing a coupler i don't have a problem doing it. you have to pull the engine to replace the coupler...

Yeah...and on my 'toon that means dropping the engine pod. No way it's coming out from the top. The PC is a 2006 and has grease fittings on the coupler, so does my Starcraft's 2000 model 3.0. Never lost a coupler....yet.