Bellows repair?

[blaque]

My fathers old boat needs the bellows replaced on a Merc I/O and im on the fence on wether i attempt it myself or preferably, have it done lol

 

Im near Buffalo, and at this point, alot of the good marine mechanics around the niagara and erie are swamped but im going to look into.

 

I guess the question is, would this be a job to take on myself or bring it to the experts. And the bigger question is.........whats a fair price for this job. Understanding that they will probably replace the main bellows, exhaust bellows, and shift cable while the lower unit is off.

 

Whats the price range so i know whether im getting taken to the cleaners or not when getting estimates?

[BITEME]

I can only speak on doing volvos it's better if you have a couple of guys do it we had to do one a couple years ago on the rescue boat outside and it was the better part of 4 hrs fairly involved but doable a shop would be your best bet but we refuse to take the boat in unless it is absolutely out of our control

Hope that helps

Peter

[OhioFisherman]

You might look on youtube and see if there are any videos showing how to do it? It could make deciding on a diy project easier?

 

I had a 1975 SeaRay with a Merc I/O, don't know what has changed, but they had to be in forward gear when you removed the out drive or were a real pain to get back together.

[OhioFisherman]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=changing+the+bellows+on+a+merc+i%2Fo

 

There is information.

[blaque]

Ya, ive spent some time on youtube after posting this to see what all is involved. Seems like something i do not want to get into, and would be a tool or 2 short on anyway

 

Welp, we shall see what the going rate is for gettin it done

 

Thanks guys

[DRIFTER_016]

 

Welp, we shall see what the going rate is for gettin it done

 

 

If I were to guess it will be somewhere between lots and tons.

No where near a ship load though. Getting the motor replaced costs that!!!

[Old Ironmaker]

The problem we came across Blaque is that the gear puller for the gimble bearing which had to be done to do the bellows for the Merc was big bucks. It may not have been necessary to change the bearing but it was changed regardless because it was due for preventative mtc, if the bellows are done for the bearing is due as well. Some how our mechanical Guru came up with a home made version of the 200 buck puller using home made shims and elastic bands believe it or not.

 

Go to iboats.com and join the forum. That question will be answered forthwith. A great resource even though I get mod q'd with regularity. A very politically correct site.

Edited June 7, 2016 by Old Ironmaker

[KLINKER]

Not that hard to do but....if the gimble bearing is pooched or the motor has settled out of alignment at the mounts you could be into problems beyond a backyard fix.

[ecmilley]

I have a slide hammer attachment to get gimbal out. Usually looking around 5 hrs for merc. Most of it straight forward nuts and bolts job.

Hard parts are adjusting shift cable.

Make sure u align gimbal bearing up for grease fitting .

A draw a diagram of how the clamps are clocked.

When I ve done this always replace gimbal and shift cable make sure u inspect u joints in shaft

[Freshtrax]

They lone a tool at crappy tire to pull gimbal, but the new alignment tool is spendy i managed to borow one for mine you can't do it without it.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Freshtrax

[blaque]

Not that hard to do but....if the gimble bearing is pooched or the motor has settled out of alignment at the mounts you could be into problems beyond a backyard fix.

This is what concerns me the most actually.......the first time this lower unit will have seen a wrench, who knows what else im going to find lol

[blaque]

 

If I were to guess it will be somewhere between lots and tons.

No where near a ship load though. Getting the motor replaced costs that!!

 

 

Thats a pretty loose estimate..........Youve mastered the art of "wiggle room" lol

[blaque]

The problem we came across Blaque is that the gear puller for the gimble bearing which had to be done to do the bellows for the Merc was big bucks. It may not have been necessary to change the bearing but it was changed regardless because it was due for preventative mtc, if the bellows are done for the bearing is due as well. Some how our mechanical Guru came up with a home made version of the 200 buck puller using home made shims and elastic bands believe it or not.

 

Go to iboats.com and join the forum. That question will be answered forthwith. A great resource even though I get mod q'd with regularity. A very politically correct site.

Good info........I think im going to get an estimate before i think about turning a wrench myself

 

Thanks again ALL!