Shift Cable Bellows & Water Intrusion

[kmclaren]

I recently found out the hard way that my shift cable bellows on my 232cc had failed and had come loose.  (Bravo 3 drive)  My boat was in the water for about 36 hours when I found that water was almost up to the engine and was about 4 inches deep in the cabin.  I was able to limp to my ramp and pull the boat out of the water and drain the water.

This leads me to a number of questions....

1. The boat is a 2001.  Should I be looking to change all the bellows at this point or just repair the broken one.

2. The bellows seems to be intact and just disconnected from the drive side of the shift cable.  Can this be repaired?  Or is it going to need to be replaced.

3. After having this much water in the boat, do I need to worry about water getting into the outdrive from the inside of the boat?  What should I do to remediate this?

Thanks in advance for any comments or help.

[pepmyster]

After 10 years on the bellows, It is not uncommon to be replaced. Do that before any real damage occurs. At the same time, you should replace all the bellows on the boat

[alswagg]

You have to remove the drive to replace the shift bellows anyway.  The U joint bellows is easy on the New Mercs also.  Replace it also.    Inspect the U joints and Gimble brg.  If the Gimble brg has not been changed, do it now.  The exhaust bellows flows water anyway, not needed to change.  I usually replace with the exhaust boot.   As per water, was it over the starter?  Probably was, replace with new,  They are pretty cheap anyways now. 
Are you going to replace these yourself???  Not really a hard job, a couple hrs for the bellows max.   Good luck  Al

[AlexisandChad]

Are you going to replace these yourself???  Not really a hard job, a couple hrs for the bellows max.   Good luck  Al

If you can do your own tune up in your car, then you can do all this work.  Al hit it on the head, you should change all the bellows and I also agree on the bearing.  Also to add, if anything electrical was submerged (i.e. starter, alternator, etc.) you should replace it.  As Al said, parts are pretty cheap now and well worth the peace of mind.

My .02