Tiller arm seals

2

280 Gator

Member
May 9, 2012
91
virginia
Boat Info
2018 290 SDX OB
former 280 Sundancer
former 220 Overnighter
former many Mastercrafts
Engines
Twin 250XL Verados with Joystick
So i have a 2008 280 DA I bought in July. PO always had on lift and was pulled out and went to dealer every two years. I also keep on lift. Since this is the first year I owned it I had it pulled out and checked totally by a local marina.
The marina called and said they found the transom assembly tiler arm seals leak allowing water into the engine room on aft of engines.
I havent gone to look at yet, and honestly dont know what to look for. Im a little skeptical, maybe a lot!!. Does this make sense to wear out in 4 years? I havent got a repair price yet but another mechanic told me its not easy to get to--behind the engines. I have twin 4.3 with B111.
any body have a thought or tell me what i should look for when i go ?
Thanks
Dave
 
I think the engines would need to be pulled to repair. Probably not a cheap fix if that is the case.
 
That sounds strange to me, only 4 yrs. old and lift kept?? I had the bravo3 drive on my 97 250 DA with 700 + hrs on it with no such problem, anything is possible though..........
 
this is what they recommend " One side is a bit worse than the other and it will require pulling the engines to affect the repairs. In the past it has been our experience that replacing the transom as an assembly is more cost effective than disassembling each transom and trying to repair the leaking areas. Often the seal mating surfaces are corroded or impossible to repair with reasonably certainty that the leak will not recur."
 
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The assy replacement is probably the way to go, but I still find a 4 yr. old assy is already bad unless it's a salt water boat and has been kept in the water for yrs. and not dry stored. JMHO
 
i have some photos but cant figure out upload, they have to be so small cant see them
 
PC135824-2_zpse854f1f2.jpg
 
i think i have figured out how to get images. ill post a couple--thanks
PC135820-2_zpse66b1d3b.jpg
 
it was a florida saltwater boat but it was on a lift. i inspected the lift and confirmed with dealer.


PC135814-2_zpsdd141a31.jpg
 
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:smt009Ok Gator, That is def corrosion and unfortunately is probably the cause of the leak.
 
susanandlance said:
:smt009Ok Gator, That is def corrosion and unfortunately is probably the cause of the leak.
Click to expand...

i was afraid of that. thanks for the info. now i wait for the repair quote!!
 
Ok then I say find another mechanic. I had the same problem a couple of years ago and my boat was 8 years old. The mechanic warned me that it was possible the seal mating surfaces could be corroded beyond repair but said lets pull the engines and take a look. The transom assemblies were removed from the boat and rebuilt on the bench and new seals installed. The shop where you are is just lazy. My mechanic told me that it's a lousy design and the seals fail all the time. Yours probably failed sooner because the boat was lift stored. Good Luck!
Rob
 
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Brite Idea said:
Ok then I say find another mechanic. I had the same problem a couple of years ago and my boat was 8 years old. The mechanic warned me that it was possible the seal mating surfaces could be corroded beyond repair but said lets pull the engines and take a look. The transom assemblies were removed from the boat and rebuilt on the bench and new seals installed. The shop where you are is just lazy. My mechanic told me that it's a lousy design and the seals fail all the time. Yours probably failed sooner because the boat was lift stored. Good Luck!
Rob
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Mechanic is willing to rebuild the assemblies, he just doesnt yet know if it is too badly corroded. Has anyone else tried doing this without pulling the engines? Seems like mixed opinions in the thread below by KP49. Marina wants 25 hours per engine to take out engine, replace shaft and seal and re assemble. Hopefully assemblies can be repaired not replaced or Ill be at 10 grand!!
 
ok so I went and dug out the bill for my boat for the work that was done July 2008. The shop pulled both engines and transom assemblies. The work included all bellows,shift cables,trim and limit switches,gimbal bearings,steering shaft seals and all gaskets and adjustments. I was charged for 30 hours total plus parts. So like I said before, maybe it's time to get a second opinion. The shop I used was here in N.Y. so trust me they're not cheap. I'm not saying your mechanic doesn't know what he's doing he's just really out of line with his estimate. Also the shop I used is a Mercruiser shop so all work came with a one year warranty.
Rob
 
280 Gator said:
Mechanic is willing to rebuild the assemblies, he just doesnt yet know if it is too badly corroded. Has anyone else tried doing this without pulling the engines? Seems like mixed opinions in the thread below by KP49. Marina wants 25 hours per engine to take out engine, replace shaft and seal and re assemble. Hopefully assemblies can be repaired not replaced or Ill be at 10 grand!!
Click to expand...

Many people have done it without pulling the engine, didnt see any mixed opinions about it. A lot of mechanics wont do it that way though, and consider the JR plate or mercruiser plug method a hack. My local marina wanted 2500+ parts to pull the engine/drive and replace the swivel shaft, seal, intake hose, bellows, lower shift cable and lube monitor hose. They also refused to use anything but OE Mercruiser parts supplied by them at full retail (cant blame them there). Anything like the transom plate, bellhousing or gimble ring being replaced would have cost extra, so that could have been a couple extra grand if they didnt feel like cleaning up and re-using the old parts.

Thats a single engine though, I have seen how packed a 280 is with twins and I'm not sure how good the access is to the water inlet fitting, lower shift cables etc is. Mine with the single engine is wide open and I had no problem getting to anything back there with the engine in. I assume most marine mechanics would just yank the engines rather then fool with it, not to mention pulling the engines is pretty easy if you have a proper hoist. 600.00 as opposed to 3 grand with parts and over a month of downtime was enough to make me give it a shot and do it myself. Granted I have a trailer, big driveway and a lot of tools.

Unfortunately if you dont have the tools, time, room or ability to do it yourself all you can do is find a shop with good references and can do that kind of work without creating other problems.
 
thanks everybody. Ill let you know how it goes!!
 
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