Replace Bell Housing on Alpha Due to Corrosion?

[Ashlexadd]

I just got back my boat from my mechanic, I had to have the motor pulled due to a rusted oil pan that was leaking. While it was at the shop I had a bunch of other work done (new starter, plugs & wires, dist. cap and had the out drive pulled and new water pump put in).

When I picked up the boat the mechanic informed me that there was water coming out of the shift cable at the engine when he ran it on the muffs. He told me to order a new replacement bell housing, and explained that the water is leaking from the o-ring seal on the raw water passage between the upper unit and the bell housing. He explained that the o-ring seat on the bell housing tends (on the alpha's) to corrode away and that water is now leaking from this water passage into the cavity where the shift cable is. He would also replace the shift cable and all bellows at this time.

I have never heard of a bell housing corroding this way (and could not find any post on this or other forums). The shift cable was not leaking water before it went to the shop. I guess I'm just looking for advice if anyone has had or heard of this problem?

Any advice is appreciated before I bring the boat back in for this new repair.

 

[Bucit]

I cannot help but my neighbor has a 24' Sundeck (a few years old) and he just had his engine pulled to replace a corroded oil pan. Is this a common problem with the Sundecks? He said he always has water in the bilge too?

 

[Ashlexadd]

I think the motor sits very close to the bottom of the bilge on the sundeck (about 6" from the bottom). But I think the real problem was that the previous owner didn't do a good job of rinsing all the salt water out of the bilge and bottom of motor after use.

I see your in St. Pete. hope to see you out sometime. Egmont and Jewfish are our regular weekend hangouts, we havent gone North of Ft Desoto yet.

 

[kevin27]

Well I do know if the orange O-Ring is left out it will do what you describe. Replace the shift cable as it will rust and cause shift problems once water gets in.

 

[Bucit]

I see your in St. Pete. hope to see you out sometime. Egmont and Jewfish are our regular weekend hangouts, we havent gone North of Ft Desoto yet.

We get out to Egmont every now and then. The water there is so much nicer than the bay but it takes me about 30+ gallons to get there and back so it makes for an expensive day. I'm hoping to stay overnight one of these weekends. We have friends that stay on the leeward side of the island and say it's awesome at night. Probably some good noght fishing too! PM me your email and we will try to hook up sometime. Are you going to Lido Beach Aquapalooza in July? I signed up for the Clearwater sheppards one but may try to get doen to Sarasota. Last year we boated to the Sarasota Yacht Club and spent the nigt. They just rebuilt it and it was very nice. How far from SYC is the Aquapalooza event?

 

[Gunn]

Hmmm, If your drive and bellhousing doesn't look corroded on the exterior, I doubt this is your problem. Maybe the O-ring is just plain missing, or fell off during the install? I usually put a dab of grease on the O-ring to hold it in place while I position and mount the drive unit. It can easily fall off the mark and cause this scenario. I would definately check this first. It's quick and easy to do before spending $$$ on a replacement gimbal housing.

Since you say this didn't happen before the removal, that'd be my bet.

 

[aqua*holic]

I would also bet that the o-ring is not installed right. I would get a second opinion.

By the way, nice boat!

 

[Ashlexadd]

Thanks for the replys. I guess I'll pull the outdrive off to check the gasket and o-ring before I buy a $600 bell housing. As I've now had salt water inside the shift cable it looks like I'll be replacing that next week. I just hope the outdrive has no problems due to the water leak this weekend as I'm taking the boat 100 miles down the coast to Captiva.

I'll let you know next week if it was a seal or if the bell housing was really corroded away.

 

[vandal]

I have nad them leak there it crodes away . Remove drive and clean in side of water inlet and put a coating of 5200 in there will seal leak on one boat i work on has lasted 12 years no problem.

 

[Ashlexadd]

I removed the drive this weekend and sure enough the bell housing was corroding around the water passage with a lot of pitting where the o-ring sits. There was one spot where the seat that the o-ring sits didn't have enough of a good surface left to sit properly. The u-joint and exhaust bellows were all dry.

I ended up cleaning it out real good and then built it all back up with JB weld (I love that stuff). I then ground a new seat for the o-ring to sit in on the bell housing.

I got it all together and the leak thru the shift cable is gone. I took it out for a few hours this weekend and had no problems.

I'm not sure if the JB weld will hold up or not long term, I'll pull the drive in a month or two to replace the shift cable and see how it looks. As long as it doesn't give me any problems down in the keys during the week of the 4th I'll be happy.

Thanks for the responses.