75 cuddy I/O taking water..HELP?

[cmoney]

I don't know if your boat has a livewell pump, but if it does check it and the seacock. My pump separated when we were 15 miles out and i could hear water coming in and I was like oh s*&@. Popped the access plate and turned the lever on the seacock and all was good took 15 min to pump all the water out. when i replaced the pump i noticed there was a small leak in the thru-hull had to reseal it and no more leaks.

[smokeonthewater]

your bellows are done... even if you didn't have a hole they are YEARS past replacement time....

Personally I would get serious w maintenance... A fellow with basic tools, and a mechanical aptitude could pull the drive, engine and transom assembly, check the transom out, replace the rubber seal on the transom assembly and put it all back together with new bellows, shift cable, shifter seal, gimbal bearing, impeller, and gear oil in a weekend for a few hundred dollars.

Example, if you have a way to lift it, one experienced guy can pull the engine in 15 minutes and an amateur can do it in an hour.


A little crying today followed by a rough weekend can make for much safer and more enjoyable boating for years to come.

[macojoe]

Listen to all!! The last thing you want is to be offshore when the boat fills with water and sinks!
They are right with about 1 hour to pull the motor, what I did when I did mine was put a piece of ply down on the deck, rented a motor lift for the day and put right in the boat, Lifted the motor and rolled it back a hair, did all my work and lowered it back in, Done!!
But be ready for a few things, one the motor mount holes in front of motor will be rotted! You will need to replace the wood there when you have the motor out, not hard, but just another part of the job.
To check the transom take a 1/8" drill bit and drill the transom from inside, if wood is clean your good if it black or dust like dirt its rotted! start at the top and go down with a few holes to see if or how high its rotted. if its just wet way down the bottom you have time, and i would not worry right away!
The bilge pumps, first silicon a piece of 3/4 wood to the floor and after it drys screw the pump to it so as not drill a hole in boat, 2nd pump do the same but use a 2x4 and up on the curve a little, this will allow the first pump to pump the water and if it gets to bad and goes higher the 2nd one will help it, also keeps the pumps from sucking sand and crap to jam the impeller and burning out the pumps.

[Crifasinator]

got it... so obviously I need to learn how to do this it seems like if i am going to do the bellows I will need to see about getting a new gimbal housing. so does that mean I will have to pull the motor?

[macojoe]

Not really but I am sure them bolts are welded together so it would be easier. Snap them off, and drive them out. If using SS bolts use some never seize on the bolts, this way you can get them off again and it will stop the corrosion from different metals.

[smokeonthewater]

the engine has to come out to get to the bolts holding the gimbal housing

[SkunkBoat]

Looking at that bellows...I wouldn't get in that boat.

[spareparts]

You shouldn't have to replace the gimbal to replace the bellows. More importantly, check the transom. Take a screw driver handle or a small hammer ans start tapping on the transom, it should sound tight and give a high pitch tap, if you hear a dull thud, you got problems, trim the drive up, lean across the drive and put your weight on it, see if you can notice any movement at the transom to gimbal plate, look at the top and see if you create a gap, if you do, its transom time.

[Crifasinator]

phew!! Well I got this boat with the intention of using it. The PO assured me things were good and this is a little frustrating. the picture may make the bellows appear aged more than it actually is. when I did the water pump we pulled the out drive and cleaned and greased the drive line and u-joints. I am just new to boats and all this is not what I expected as far as things needing immediate repair.

[smokeonthewater]

If I bought a boat and simply didn't know how old the bellows were I'd replace em before using it... That's how important they are

the reason to pull the gimbal housing is to fix the leak around it... caulk doesn't cut it