bellows and barnacles !!???

ozzie

ozzie

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I was in Torquay Marina a couple of weeks ago with the engine hatch open, when I heard water dripping. On investigation water was leaking in below the drive shaft. The boat has just been lifted and the stern drive removed with the following verdict.

Apparently the driveshaft and gear linkage bellows have holes in them caused by barnacles, and there are signs of perishing on the exhaust bellows. As a consequence my two year old gimbal bearing is shot. Now, if the bellows were old I could understand it, but the leg was fully serviced and new bellows fitted start of the season!!

The boat is a 2003 Rinker Fiesta Vee250, 5.0 Mercruiser and Alpha 1 Gen 2 drive moored on the Exe. The question is has anyone else had a similar problem? The engineer is contacting the parts supplier, but in the meantime my boat is out of action. Any help or advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated!
 
Same leg as yours
Been in the water since 'serviced' 14 months ago
In two diffent marinas
Anodes shot
Barnacles all over the place!
Prop shot
OK, we have saved the leg
By the way, had to hammer the prop off it was almost welded to the outdrive.
But bellows/ rubbers etc OK.
It seems the question must be raised as to the standard of the 'service' me thinks.
Oh! and the Gimble and it's anode where ok
We did find that two of the anodes were not fitted properly ref ref thier 'straps' and fixings
 
Suspect it will be a case of lump it.There is no way that the maker of that "new" bellows (was it actually replaced,ie was it your boat then or did the previous owner assure you it had been done)?)is going to cough up cos one rather sharp barnycule managed to abrade the rubber enough for water to seep in.As for my anodes I always check them for wear every so often,sometimes they will last a season,sometimes they are almost gone after 6 months.
 
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I'd recommend the VP active corrosion protection unit; it indicates when it's working at the limit. My anodes ( Zn, holyhead marina, now last in excess of 2seasons!)

Graham
 
ozzie said:
...Apparently the driveshaft and gear linkage bellows have holes in them caused by barnacles, and there are signs of perishing on the exhaust bellows. As a consequence my two year old gimbal bearing is shot. Now, if the bellows were old I could understand it, but the leg was fully serviced and new bellows fitted start of the season!!...
Click to expand...

Something wrong there - are you sure the mechanic changed the exhaust bellows? New bellows don't 'perish' in the space of two/three months.

I've had a problem in the past with a muscle lodging itself snugly up against one of the drive seals. It proceeded to grow, shoving the seal to one side. Luckily I got away with needing new seals only.
 
I suspect that I've had a similar problem (in Spain where I have someone reliable do the maintenence) He sends me pics of problems when the boat is out of the water and I've had ripped gaiters twice now. One for two year old gaiters and one for gaiters that were one year old. Fortunately the problem didn't lead to any bigger problems. I suspect barnacles but only raise the leg a few times a year to clear barnacles from the props
 
bellows and barnacles

The engineer is sending the bellows back to the suppliers for them to have a look at. Apparently there are two holes in the drive shaft bellow, one in the small gear cable bellow and signs of perishing on the exhaust bellow. One hole after less than three months in the water I could understand but not this amount including perishing. The leg is only trimmed up and down, it has not been tilted up at all. I have legal protection with my boat insurance, called them yesterday and they advised to see what the supplier comes back with. If they are unco-operative then they are sure we will have a claim as they are not fit for purpose. Will keep you posted on developments!!
 
Presumably they are not Mercruiser OEM parts? Personally I don't like the thought of using non-OEM bits when it comes to keeping the water on the right side of the boat.

Either way I am sure you have a claim against someone as the bellows should not have failed in that short a time period if fitted and used correctly.
 
Ozzie,

It does happen, I had the exact same thing, on one of my old Regal. New volvo bellows (I was there during the service) within a very short time a barnacle had attached and with the trimming up / down of the leg from normal use it seems to have cut through.

Was there when the mech took the bellows off and showed me, told just bad luck. At the time I thought why dont they put some copper in the rubber mix or AF it to stop this?? UJ seized onto the shaft, drive wouldnt pull off, nearly £3k later (they had to change the upper drive due to too much damage getting it off) didnt think claiming on insurance, probably should have. Dont you love boats ;)

Ajay
 
lovezoo said:
Presumably they are not Mercruiser OEM parts? Personally I don't like the thought of using non-OEM bits when it comes to keeping the water on the right side of the boat.

Either way I am sure you have a claim against someone as the bellows should not have failed in that short a time period if fitted and used correctly.
Click to expand...

I must admit I prefer to pay the (small) premium for OEM VP parts; the aftermarket ones are clearly priced to undercut the OEM parts by X%, it's just not worth the risk for such a saving iin such a critical area in my opinion; however, both are vastly overpriced in terms of the R&D/ production/ distribution cost!

Graham
 
bellows and barnacles--update

Spoke to the engineers today, it now turns out they did not fit new bellows as specifically requested but gave them a "visual" and did not tell me any different. I even queried it when the bill arrived as they were not listed and was told they forgot to charge me. I have basically paid nearly £1200 for a leg service with no new bellows that now "appear "to have a hole allegedly caused by a stick and not barnacles as first thought, a knackered gimbal bearing and more bills for parts, labour and cranage/storage.
Any thoughts on how I should proceed from here greatly appreciated
 
How did they arrive at a bill for 1200 GBP if they didn't replace the bellows? You can buy a brand new Alpha 1 Gen II clone for 1650 GBP plus VAT...

Given that they originally told you they replaced the bellows and the bellows then failed, you surely have a use for the legal insurance you have.
 
Sounds like they've lifted your leg - so to speak - and been caught out.

I'd possibly follow lovezoo's suggestion, although it could be more constructive to inform the mechanic of your potential course of action, which could all be avoided so easily if they just put everything right at no additional cost to you.

You'll need a new mechanic for next time. Good luck with it - and keep us posted!
 
carlton said:
I'd possibly follow lovezoo's suggestion, although it could be more constructive to inform the mechanic of your potential course of action, which could all be avoided so easily if they just put everything right at no additional cost to you.
Click to expand...
Yes definitely ask them to put it right first before taking the legal route. Perhaps you might want to scan the invoice in and post it here so we can see what work they did claim to do for the money?
 
I spoke to the engineers and they have now agreed that it was their mistake not to put new bellows on as requested, and the gimbal bearing is now shot as a result. They have now agreed to foot the bill for everything other than the cost of bellows as obviously I had not paid for any in the first place. I am happy with this but did insist that they fit genuine parts. I am glad they put their hands up because I did not want to go down the legal route although I had spoken to the legal helpline on my boat insurance, and they were sure I had a cast iron case. Boat should be back in the water within a few days!!
Will keep you posted.
 
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