Exhaust bellow on a penta 270?

rickiefs	I had posted a week ago about water coming in from somewere by the bilge. well today I had a chance to take a close look at the bellows. I found that the exhaust bellow had a few small rips in it. both of them were around a 1/16 of an inch big. my question is, could this be the problem with water coming inside the boat? and , would this affect engine performance? thanks rich	2002-09-21
f_inscreenname	To your first question:YES The second It will wreck the bearings in your bellhousing and your coupler. Then there is the rust factor inside the bellhousing. It is to easy to replace before you do all that damage.	2002-09-22
rickiefs	I called the shop that worked on my boat today , he said the exhaust bellows have holes in them anyways to let the water drain.i looked again and he was right. but there are some small cuts in it.the more I looked underneath today I found were the water was coming in.were the stern is bolted to the back of the boat. theres a o ring around it. well it looks like the bottom bolts were not tighted all the way. the plate is around an 1/8 away from the surface . so someone put clear silicon around the bottom. it was leaking threw. was woundering if I can't tighten the bolts anymore can I use a better grade silicon to seal it up!its around 8 inches I have to do!	2002-09-22
dick	If someone has put silicone around it ether they couldn't tighten the bolts anymore the the big rubber rings are flating out so bad that water is coming in.Any any case ther shouldn't be any sealer there .If the rubber rings are in good shape and the outer plate is installed right just alittle grease to help with the installation is all that needed.You should fix it right, or you can pack it full chaulking, this may work for a short time or a long time ,it's up to you.	2002-09-22
rickiefs	Thanks for the input, I started to tighting the lower bolts . they were pretty loose. do you think the last person was just lazy I didn't want to try ! and put sealer around it! top is flush. bottom is around a 1/8 open.it didn't look like there was any rotten wood were the bolts were, what I mean is when I was tighting them they were not crushing the wood.	2002-09-23
rickiefs	Hey ****, how hard is it to replace the seal? can I do it myself ? I have the book somewere. thanks rich	2002-09-23
dick	I think I may have got confused .I thought you were talking about the ring that bolts to intermediate housing(this is were your U-joints go through)But this sounds like your talking about the transom shield and were it makes contact with the transom? And you are tighting nuts not bolts? Please let me know.	2002-09-24
hondon	Take it back to the place you had the work done and show them the gap you have seen.That transom shield goe's through on long studs and is easy to get cocked on installation.When it gets that way the nuts will take the torque but the unit is'nt sealing.You know it's leaking ,now you have the ammo to make them fix it.	2002-09-25
rickiefs	Yes ! I can send a picture if you give me your e-mail address rich	2002-09-26
dick	[edited]	2002-09-27

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