'89 Alpha One outdrive issues

[DaveF]

Hi everyone,
I joined this forum a few years ago and have been soaking up the knowledge here since but this is my first post. I've been having a few issues with my '89 180BR that I'm trying to diagnose. For starters, here's the symptoms I've seen:

• While underway and with the wheel turned to the right, the drive shudders as I straighten it out. Only seems to happen when going from right to center.
• When I changed the gear oil this year, it seemed low, and it seems like there was some water in there too. However, it wasn't milky or frothy. This was after pulling it out of storage before I had run it for the season. After having it out for a short ride last weekend, I drained the oil again tonight and didn't see any signs of water.
• Water leaking down the inside of the transom into the bilge. It seemed to develop towards the end of last season. I didn't have time to look at it before storing the boat for the winter. On our first ride last weekend though the leak seemed more serious. I was having to pump out a good amount of water every 15 minutes or so.

Obviously I need to figure out that leak, and my assumption is that a bellows issue could cause all of these problems. Before pulling anything apart, I found that the shift cable bellows has ripped in two near the crimped end. I pulled the drive to look inside the u-joint bellows, figuring that was bad as well. However, I found those bellows with quite a bit of gear oil in them (enough that a bunch poured down the drive when I separated it from the bell housing), but no sign of water or obvious holes. So I guess I'll need to be looking at the front seal. I'll also need to replace the gimbal bearing as it is a little rough (less than I expected though). The u-joints feel fine, though I'm going to take a closer look at them too.

I found some concerning pieces though inside the bellows (pictures attached). First was a large ring of rubber about the diameter of the bellows. Next were 2 metal pieces about 1" long. I didn't see anywhere that these obviously came from. Any ideas?

Anyway, I guess I'm looking for confirmation that I'm on the right track here or else if there's something that I'm overlooking here. Thanks for any advice!

Pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5d89qx0f2y7ww37/bellows.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8rt19f341pr7exb/ujoints.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s0hjaiybqrdrt14/rubber.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/giig7o2gc43j9t9/metalparts.jpg

 

[SCORPIO]

Just guessing here but could the rubber be part of the seal lip? and the metal be a seal retainer ring that is broken? I think you are on the right track, you will need to do some seal work. A pressure/vacuum test would be a good idea too in order to pinpoint any other leaks while you are tearing into it.
The U-joints look good, a greasing and they will probablly be good to go.