Alpha 1 Outdrive Gasket

[Old Vet]

When removing my outdrive earlier this week I disovered something that obviously wasn't right.

Just inside the gimbel housing.....before the drive shaft/u-joint bellows....is a fairly large rubber seal (approx 4" - 5" diameter) that sits up against a shoulder.

Not exactly sure if there's a specific name for this rubber seal...if I can find it I'll edit this later.

However...when removing the outdrive...that seal was out of place....not seated up against the lip/shoulder in there....but was instead pushed forward past the shoulder it's supposed to seat against and just sitting inside the bellows.

If I remember correctly....I think when I removed the drive last fall...this seal had a bit of a kink in it.....didn't appear that it would have been providing a proper seal.

So here's the question.

If this seal is damaged.....like last fall...or in this year's case not even in place properly....how much if any water could get by it?

I've had this ongoing water entry problem somewhere since last fall and wondering if this damaged/out of place seal could be the culprit???

For what it's worth....I didn't really see any evidence of water inside the bellows or around the gimbel bearing at all. If this seal...or lack thereof... was allowing water to enter I would have expected to see some in the bellows. No???

 

[kkalsch]

Here is my unprofessional..... 30 years experience of owning a mercrusier stern-drive answer-
Anytime you take the stern dive off you should use a new seal-gasket kit ..no exceptions there about 10.00 and the 3"-4" diameter seal comes in the kit. That seal should be slid over the shoulder of the stern-drive unit -not in the gimbal housing when installing the drive. The seal is very important -and yes if not installed correctly you boat could leak or even sink!
The manual does not state this: but I always coat both sides of that gasket with grease and have never had a problem

Ken

 

[Old Vet]

Thanks Ken.....and I agree 100% about using a new gasket set each and every time. A new set was used this spring when the drive was installed.

HOWEVER.....that rubber seal was not slid over the shoulder of the stern drive itself....it was placed inside the gimbal housing...and then the drive was installed.

Therein lies the problem with that seal NOT staying in place...it was obviously knocked out of place as the drive was slid in.

It WON'T happen again.

 

[kkalsch]

That's right....if you put the seal in the gimbal housing first -the edge of that shoulder (on the stern-drive) will catch the seal (when installing the drive)and push it in crocked or like in your case put a kink in it and wouldn't seal correctly