Expert: tyler boehner - 2/29/2008

Question
'95 7.4l,bravo 1. Pulled the drive a few years ago because the shift detent was sticking. New mounting kit was installed. Have had a small water leak in the bilge,since. The folowing year, pulled the drive again, found a tear in shift cable bellows,replaced,still have a trickle of water. Boat has thru-hull exhaust, so exh. bellows is not the issue. Each time drive was pulled, no sign of water in u-joint bellows. never had leak until first time drive was pulled. What am I missing? thanks

Answer
Could be the water inlet tube on the inside of the transom.  Could be the transom seal.  With a leak, it could be a lot of things.  Depending on the boat, a lot of times you can fill the boat with water and look for the leak on the outside of the boat to narrow your search.  Also,  this may sound weird, but check your speedometer hose.  If your speedometer is working, ignore that, but if your speedometer isn't, make sure the hose isn't cut inside the boat.