BRIII Pivot Pin Bushing to blame?

G

gengiant

New Member
Oct 5, 2006
268
Sacramento, CA
Boat Info
1994 270 DA
Engines
7.3L BRIII
Hi all,

For the last year I've been trying to locate a relatively minor, but highly annoying leak in my bilge. After boating for a day or weekend and then pulling the drain plug when she's back on the trailer I usually have between 1-2 gallons of raw water spill out of the bilge :smt009 (thankfully my engine doesn't leak much, if any oil...). I've had a mechanic try to locate the leak as well as had a boat yard try to find it to no avail. And since the boat also gets run in the ocean I am concerned that the water intrusion will lead to significant saltwater corrosion if I don't get the problem fixed. And I did check to see that my internal water system wasn't the one that's leaking. And neither is the cooling water intake, any of the other thru-hull fittings, sea cocks or hoses attached thereto, etc.. I am kind of at a loss as to the potential location of the intrusion. :smt017

I recently had a boating friend of mine suggest that a relatively common cause for such a problem is the outdrive pivot pin bushing. And as the boots on my bell housing and shift cables haven't been replaced in about 5 years, I figured that it might be worth doing it all at the same time this winter (boot replacements, pivot pin bushing replacement, lower unit service, etc.).

What do you guys recommend I do?

Thanks!
 
I have had a similar minor leak issue, except I keep my 260DA slipped in fresh water. I wondered where the water was coming from, but never could find the source. When we pulled the outdrive this fall, we replaced all the boots and seals as they were original (6 years old) I didn't see any gaping holes, but there were several cracks in the bellows which may have gone all the way through. I'll know for sure in the spring. In any event, if you've never pulled your drive you probably ought to, to inspect the gimbal bearing, U-joint and so on. Check out the boots and the pivot pin while you're there. Then you'll know........

Just my two cents worth...............

Bill
 
I had the same problem - mysterious water collecting in bilge. Turned out to be the transom seal - which requires pulling the engine to replace ($$$). Also, since it had apparently been leaking for about a year including a few trips to the (saltwater) coast, the steering pin had rusted to the point of needing replacement - another $300.

A friend with 2000 270 recently had to have his transom seal replaced.

Since you're probably gonna pull the drive (and possibly engine) I would recommend replacing the bellows and all seals at a minimum. Might also want to consider the shift cable - the short one that runs thru the transom.
 
I always have my dealer pull my drive every fall on my my boat. U-joints need greasing, engine alignment should be checked, the splines should be lubed as well as the Gimball Bearing and the general condition of everything including bellows gets inspected that way.

I won't hazard to guess what your problem is could be but you should definitely have the outdrive pulled. If your leak is outdrive related in any way, they should be able to tell when the drive is pulled.
 
Dave S: If you don't mind me asking, what do you pay to have the drive removed and serviced? Do you also have it pulled for the recommended 100 hour servicing (so that it is inspected twice each season)?
 
thunderbird1 said:
Dave S: If you don't mind me asking, what do you pay to have the drive removed and serviced? Do you also have it pulled for the recommended 100 hour servicing (so that it is inspected twice each season)?
Click to expand...

The last two years on my 240SD, I paid $49 to have the outdrive pulled by my dealer and everything checked and lubed. That's actually pretty cheap but unless a shop finds something wrong, I can't see anyone charging more than an hours labor to do the whole job. Since 100 hours per season was what I averaged on my 240SD, I only had this done once a year.
 
Dave S said:
The last two years on my 240SD, I paid $49 to have the outdrive pulled by my dealer and everything checked and lubed.
Click to expand...
You sure that wasn't just the lower unit? If you got the whole drive pulled for that price then you better make sure he put the bolts back in. :wink:
 
Yep, the whole outdrive. I checked my receipts before I posted just to be sure. :grin: And I have watched these guys do the job as well that's why I can tell you it shouldn't take more than an hour.
 
I had the pivot pin replaced at about 325 hours on my 99 270 but didn't have a water leak because of it...

I'd replace the stuff that doesn't require pulling engines first.
 
Dave S said:
Yep, the whole outdrive. I checked my receipts before I posted just to be sure. :grin: And I have watched these guys do the job as well that's why I can tell you it shouldn't take more than an hour.
Click to expand...

Dave, you have to love Andy and the guys at LWM :thumbsup:
 
This may be rare, but I had a simular problem last year. I found that the gas fill was allowing the seawater that splashed on the gunnels, to travel down towards the stern, then leak in, down the gas hose. This water then made its way to the bilge. I noticed that the battery trays we always wet becuse they are under the hose. It took me a year to find it. In my case I noticed on extremely calm days (no water splashing) the was very little water in the bilge, but other days, there seemed to be gallons.

I did have my bellows changed after five years to make sure this was not the problem. (In my caes it was not the problem - but a good thing to change every 5 yrs)

Good luck and keep us posted.

Mark
 
Just something to think about... A friend had the bellows done on his Regal last year, this summer he had a nasty leak arise. He pulled the drive twice, replaced a few gaskets to no avail. After the second time back in the water he ended up pulling the drive and the knuckle behind it, to find that the stainless hose clamp on the exhaust bellow had a regular steel screw on it that was completely gone after 4 months in the water! All the parts were Mercruiser parts, bought at a reputable shop. Anyone ever encountered something like this?
 
From everything I've read here the boat will definitely go in this winter to have the belows and various seals replaced. This leak's been going on for some time and it doesn't really matter if it's a calm day on the lake or a rough day on the ocean. A couple of things that I have noticed that seem to increase the water intrusion are a) when I have a lot of weight in the back of the boat and/or on the extended swim step (people, big ice chest, dive tanks, etc.), I seem to have more water in the bilge afterwards and b) when I go some distance with the outdrive raised half way, for example across the mud flats at low tide, there seems to be more water in the bilge as well. That's what lead to the pivot pin bushing and/or the bellows. I'll keep everyone posted as to the findings. It'll be a while, though, as I won't be able to take her in until the 1st of the year.

Thanks again for all the input! :smt038
 
I had this problem on both motors- It turned out it was the steering pins that caused the leak- For the labor to pull the engines and rebuild the intermediate housings with new pins and seals, I found it easier (and about the same price) to buy new intermediate housings. Expensive, but bilge is bone dry!

Brian
 
I have had the same type of pesky leak in my '87 250DA (260/Alpha 1). It takes on zero water when sitting in the slip all week. After a day's outing when we are both sitting at the back of the boat most of the time I can pump out about a gallon or two of water before we turn in. In the morning after sleeping in the v-berth the pump produces nothing. Spend another day out and I get a gallon or two from the pump. After careful observation of how thw boat sits in the water and elimination of all other sources it seems the upper pivot pin seal is the culprit.

Looks like some there will be some "bonding time" for me and the old girl in the spring...


Frank
 
Thanks! She is pretty much all original and un-molested. I did seperate the deck from the hull to replace the fuel tank. That's pretty much it other that normal maintenence. She could use some cosmetic work but she runs great and only uses about 3 gph just cruising around. When you drive it like a Donzi the fuel consumption does go up a bit. :wink: :grin:

Frank
 
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