Boat leaks-at my wit's end.

A thought on the drilling vs. engine removal. If you want to do it yourself, the JR kit is likely the way to go.

I asked my mechanic about the efficiency of doing the drill vs. engine removal. Engine removal is more "work", but takes him less man hours than the drill method. He has all the tools and experience to do an engine-out job quickly and efficiently. Therefore, it's less expensive for his customers to use the engine-out method because the labor charge is lower.
 
A thought on the drilling vs. engine removal. If you want to do it yourself, the JR kit is likely the way to go.

I asked my mechanic about the efficiency of doing the drill vs. engine removal. Engine removal is more "work", but takes him less man hours than the drill method. Therefore, it's less expensive for his customers to use the engine-out method because the labor charge is lower.

that is surprising, I watched the YouTube video and cutting/drilling the window seemed pretty straight forward and easy/quick
 
that is surprising, I watched the YouTube video and cutting/drilling the window seemed pretty straight forward and easy/quick
I'm not 100% sure he was referencing the JR kit or Mercury's side-drill method. But he was clear that he had tried "a" drilling repair kit and it was way more time consuming than engine-out. He's a pretty straight-forward guy. He doesn't want to charge customer more than necessary. I'm sure he also doesn't want to do a job that's frustrating for him, either.
 
I did the jr marine kit myself on a 290 Sundancer with twin 5.7’ and Bravo 3’s in 1 day and a total of 9 hours 6 years ago. No drips since.

I am not a professional marine mechanic and surprised pulling engines and transom plates could be done quicker...
 
I'm not 100% sure he was referencing the JR kit or Mercury's side-drill method. But he was clear that he had tried "a" drilling repair kit and it was way more time consuming than engine-out. He's a pretty straight-forward guy. He doesn't want to charge customer more than necessary. I'm sure he also doesn't want to do a job that's frustrating for him, either.

Don’t get me wrong, i think the right way is to pull the motor
 
I was debating between pulling engine and JR kit. From what I can see in the steering pin, there is significant corrosion. I was concerned that I was going to cut a big hole in the transom assembly just to find completely rusted nuts and bolts that I can't get undone. At that point I would need to pull the engines and attempt again. If that still didn't work, I would need to replace transom assembly - and at that point I will already have the engines out. My guess is mechanics/dealers elect to go this route because customer's would be pissed if they spent 8 hours on JR kit to find out the engine needs to come out to replace the transom assy. It's a gamble.

On my previous boat the lower transom assy was basically sitting in the salt bilge water. On current boat it is must higher up and I hope to have a better condition transom assembly.

Does everyone replace the bushing in the transom assembly, or leave the existing one?
It's also suggested to add a zerk fitting to grease the seal. I didn't do that last time, but likely will do it this time.
 
Yes, replace the bushing. Why not while you have it opened. Mine was pretty marred up. I also changed the bushing in the lower gimbal ring and the actual lower steering pin. I did the JR Marine repair 3 times. The 3rd time was only because i was a bonehead and didn't replace/repair the gimbal ring the 1st time i did it, and there was slop in the steering. I thought the gimbal ring was in good enough shape, NOT... You also might as well replace the steering arm too, particular if there is corrosion.
One thing to keep in mind, if there is substantial corrosion in the transom assembly, you will have to clean the seal area up pretty good, otherwise you may have premature seal failure. If the corrosion is very bad, than the seal won't seat and will simply drop out of the recess, thus letting water into your bilge. Ask me how i know... In that scenario you can use 5200 and let the seal set for a couple days then put it back together. Mine held fine after this, but i fully anticipated having to replace the transom assembly in the near future. However i sold the boat, so never ended up having too. If i were hiring someone to do the work, then i would probably just have them pull the motor if i were concerned about corrosion. If its you doing the work, then its just your time to only discover excess corrosion, then call in the experts to pull the motor...
 
I have a port outdrive that has a bit of slop both up and down and side to side plus I have a slow leak that I feel is because of steering pin seal being worn out. I have no way to pull the engine and you still have to pull the outdrive any way. So when I get ready to do the job I will do the drill method doesn't look that difficult. When I'm in there I will replace all parts that are wore out including the steering arm.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,861
Members
60,932
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top