Alpha One Bellows - How Much

[cvsa78]

I was inspecting the 3 bellows and they seam hard almost crusty. And I have the boat scheduled to be hauled next week. I just purchased my 250 DA in Oct last year and was just going through all systems.

I have never worked on a stern drive before but I have the manual and i'm not afraid to try. The parts seem inexpensive, but how much would I expect to pay If I just had a local install my new parts? or is it something I can do?

 

[PMC]

I have never worked on a stern drive before

<insert disclaimer here> I too have never done Alpha bellows before. I'm a HUGE advocate of DIY. My gut reaction on this one is to have the pros do the work.

You are dealing with an area that is no leak - good job - to - leak, crap my boat is going to sink....

Ask yourself the question. Is saving a few bucks on labor worth the stress and added cost of hauling the boat if the job is done improperly?

I'm sure others that have actually done the job, can chime in on how easy it is. For me the risk is not worth the reward.

 

[Westie]

I had never worked on a stern drive before I bought my boat. When I got I quote for $1600 to do all 3 bellows i decided to do it myself. Its not really hard to do but you do need a couple of special tools.
I bought a hinge pin tool and the bellows expander and made the ring seating tool. The other tool you will find very handy is a flexable 1/4" drive extension.

 

[stuckinforward]

probably should count on a new gimble bearing, shift cable, u-joints, impeller while its off...

 

[cvsa78]

Thats what I thought, the previous owner had that work performed last spring, I have the reciepts. He never did the bellows?? Just doesn't make sense. I just purchased the transom service kit which includes everything you mentioned except the cable. I want to do the job myself but I'm still unsure.

 

[Alibuma]

We just did the gimbal, shift cable, bellows, and trim senders for about $1000 at the dealer. It was 5.5 hrs labor plus parts, tax, and they picked it up at our house. Its good that you understand the proceedure.

When I got the boat back on Saturday we put it in the water and the boat started filling with water. It took about 60 seconds before the bilge pump started running. We quickly got the boat out and discovered the shift cable bellows wasnt attached to the boat. If you know what the mechanic is supposed to do, then you can double check the work. I was too excited to get the boat in the water though.

I was scared to do the work myself after seeing another post with a sunken 240DA. The post said the owner had just done a bellows replacement and did something wrong. That made me nervous enough but after experiencing that even a qualified mechanic can make a mistake, I will attept on my own next time. :thumbsup:

 

[stuckinforward]

well, performed properly you do need an alignment tool, and at times...most, when you pull the trim limit switches alot of guys break the 10/32nd screws, and if the wires are bare on the switches, they also will need replaced...the bellows are a big PITA to get on and you need bellows glue to hold them and a nice clean surface, and alot of times when you bring the drive up the bellow will slide off, thats why i will use Urethane glue.. its a tough job if its your first try. its a job that everyone hates doing because there is no easy way to tackle it

 

[Clam Bake]

probably should count on a new gimble bearing, shift cable, u-joints, impeller while its off...

I am replacing my bravo 3 bellows this week. For the bravo 3 I spent $120 total for the three bellows at a local marine parts store. After the purchase I noticed they were Sierra brand and not OEM, I hope I do not regret that and that they work fine...

My shift cable works fine, but I have never replaced it and I do not have a record of the previous owner replacing it. I have seen it mentioned several times that the shift cable should be replaced during the bellows work - is this because the cable breaks at some point or does it get hard to move first, like a slow failure that I can still get back to the dock? I am trying to decide whether to replace or not. I believe the cable is about $100.

Thanks, Pete.

 

[comsnark]

I was recently quoted about $800-$900 per engine for bellows and basically all the rubber goods (including gimbal and trim senders). (not including routine seal testing and impeller replacement)


I am sure someone will pull up the maintenance manuals on this topic for general replacement intervals. . . . don't have the time at the moment to look this up.


My Mechanic does not have the rubber components on his "routine replace list". My boat is a '97, and the rubber goods are original. One set of bellows is starting to show some aging, so I am doing all the work now. Nothing was leaking - yet.

 

[CaptianWilly]

I was apprehensive of doing it myself but there was so much information available for the DIY'ers I gave it a try. I will admit I spent about $250 on tools for the job (alignment tool, bellows expander, shift cable socket, hinge pin tool, etc) but the actual component parts were pretty reasonable. I found most of them on Ebay at substancial savings from the marine dealers. I did replace all the bellows, U-joints, shift cable and boot, gimble bearing, new fibre washers between the gimble housing and the bell housing and trim switches. The job actually went much better than I anticipated and had the whole thing done in a day and a half. Didn't feel that was too bad for a novice that has never had a sterndive apart before. No leaks when I was done! :smt038
Whole job started because I had a upper drive seal leak. Fixed that as well. The leg pressure tested and vacuum tested great. Went all season fearing I had leaks but none ever surfaced so I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to do it again. I suspect the second time around, I could do the whole job again in less than a day Less than $600 total in the endeaver and I still have the tools to do it again in a few years.
Bill