Question about the cost of a transom seal repair

E

emckissack@hotmail.com

Member
May 21, 2016
134
Pensacola
Boat Info
240 Sundancer 2007
Engines
5.0 Bravo 3
OK, So I am going to drop the boat off at the marina to have them try to find the leak. I was able to track down water trickling down the inside of the rear transom, in the center, which at first made me think it was leaking from around the plug. I resealed the plug and still found water entering the bilge. So I am assuming it is coming from the transom area but not sure if it a bellows problem or the transom seal. When I saw the water trickling down from above the plug, the engine was off, if the matters. I am trying to brace myself for the worst case scenario of it being the transom seal.
Can anyone give me some indication of the cost for pulling the engine and replacing the seal? I can start to get my wallet ready to loose some weight.
 
Is it leaking from the top of the transom assembly or bottom? If top I would suspect the steering arm and you will probably see rust etc around the top of the transom assembly where the arm comes in. If the bottom I would suspect the shift bellows, looking from the inside it is bottom left on the transom assembly behind the exhaust Y pipe so you can't really see it. Usually the rate of the leak with change if you trim the drive up or down. Shift bellows are usually the first to start leaking.
 
I can not tell where the leak originates because not much room to get behind there. The only reason I can see the leak where I do is because I put a camera in the bilge and recorded it for a while. I do not see any rust on the steering arm that I can see. But I hope it is something that simple.
 
The good news is it's highly unlikely that the transom seal failed....especially on an 11 year-old boat. I replaced the gimbal housing on my 33 year-old Cobalt and the transom seal was still soft, pliable and not leaking. And that boat lived in salt water. If the transom seal failed you would have bigger problems. The gimbal housing, where the seal is, is bolted snug through the transom to the transom plate on the inside of the boat. They don't move or get vibration nor are they really exposed to the elements. Not saying it can't happen but in 50 years of boating I've never seen one just....fail.

I would suspect a bellows has failed and the one that usually goes is the shift cable bellows. Where you are describing seeing water is where they usually leak. If the outdrive has not been pulled for at least the past 2 years you are overdue. I would replace all bellows, water pump, gimbal bearing, gaskets and fluids.

Let us know what you find out.
Shawn
 
My last 2 boats had a failed transom seal, 1 ten years old the other an 18 year old trailer boat. It does happen, and neither had a soft transom. Problem with that seal is it doesn't protrude out far enough to seal anything but a dead flat surface. Hope it's not your problem, but if it is, there are other ways to seal it without taking your whole drive line apart
 
scoflaw said:
My last 2 boats had a failed transom seal, 1 ten years old the other an 18 year old trailer boat. It does happen, and neither had a soft transom. Problem with that seal is it doesn't protrude out far enough to seal anything but a dead flat surface. Hope it's not your problem, but if it is, there are other ways to seal it without taking your whole drive line apart
Click to expand...
Wow....I've never seen that. Something new everyday....
 
I did go out and check the transom area around the drive with a hammer. Everything sounded tight with no hollow spots. I hope it is a bellows but if it is the scenario scoflaw spoke of, what would be the fix?
 
I verified my transom seal leak by getting the bow up as high as I could on the trailer and filling the bilge with water to just below the starter. You could check the integrity of your transom by having someone jumping up and down on the drive while observing for any transom flexing, or you could do the test holes method.

I would think a boat of your age should be solid, but you never know. There are many that will frown on the idea of filling the boat with water but worked just fine for me.

So for the quick easy fix I got the mercathode loose and out of the way. Dremeled a fine line around the perimeter of the transom housing, removing a bit of gel coat and transom assembly paint and caulked a nice smooth even bead of 4200 around the perimeter.

Leak be gone....let the flames begin on how wrong this is.
 
Was thinking that if the transom assembly was worn out completely down the road the 4200 would be easier to remove. I don't think the 5200 would be that big a deal to remove either
 
With I/Os, you may just want to get a complete reseal and have them replace all the bellows at the same time. When they have it off, they may find other issues that can be fixed at the same time. The labor cost of removal gets spread over the other repairs, and you will know you have a properly sealed unit. I would not mess around with potential leaks that may or may not wet the interior of the transom wood.
 
Right now my biggest fear is the wood is wet and that I will need to have the motor pulled. I cross my fingers that it is a bellows but when I inspected them, they all feel thick and supple so I didn't immediately feel that they will be the problem. Creekwood, Will a complete reseal involve pulling the engine or can that be done from the outside?
 
emckissack@hotmail.com said:
Right now my biggest fear is the wood is wet and that I will need to have the motor pulled. I cross my fingers that it is a bellows but when I inspected them, they all feel thick and supple so I didn't immediately feel that they will be the problem. Creekwood, Will a complete reseal involve pulling the engine or can that be done from the outside?
Click to expand...

I had it done as part of buying one of my last boats. The purchase survey came back and said it needed new bellows and drive seal, so I negotiated a price reduction from the seller and got it done right after I bought it. When I had it done it did not involve engine removal. I got the transom seal done, all the bellows done, the trim limit sensors, and I also had them replace the prop shaft seals at the same time. I figured I might as well do a 100% refresh and start off knowing it was done. That was a while ago, but it was the better part of $2500 at the time for all of it. Might have included new zincs all around too.
 
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