I finally figured out the leak that I found back in the first part of June was the bellows after all. We were going on vacation the first two weeks of July, so on June 29 we pulled the boat and dropped it off at the shop. He said it would be round $350 for a new bellows and outdrive service.

LESSON LEARNED: This being our first I/O I am still learning. I found out that when you find out your bellow is leaking, you get it out of the water pretty quick and get it fixed, even if it is only dripping ever so slightly. It turns out that even a little drip of water is not good for the gimbal bearing and u-joint. So I got to replace those also since I let them be exposed to water for almost a month!!!

Live and learn!!!!

Sorry to hear. :-/

Any rule of thumb as to when to start thinking about replacing the bellows? 5 years? 10 years?

How does one inspect them?

I'm not a DIY'er, but I do like to be proactive... especially about leaky-things.

We bought the boat at the end of 2005 and the guy who checked the engine and out drive said everything was ok. Now 2 1/2 years later and 2 years in the water, the boat is 9-10 years old, i Wasn't surprised when it started leaking. The boat mechanic said have it checked every 2 years.

I will have it checked out in two years you can bet on that.

1999 boats will still have greasable U/Js, they need greasing every year (as does the gimbal bearing), so the drive has to be removed yearly. That's a good time to inspect the bellows. Gasket cement needs to be used on certain areas when the outdrive is reinstalled (and when new bellows are installed).

Perhaps an overkill, but I change the bellows on mine every 2 years; my boat sits in salt water for 6 months every year, the effect (and expense!) of what salt water could do if it got at the driveshaft/ gimbal bearing etc doesn't bear thinking about!

Graham