Water appearing in bilge

[sparkywest]

Last year I had a mechanic pull the outdrive and install new boots. Since then I have water collecting in the bilge. I cannot find the source. I asked the mechanic if one of the boots that he installed could be leaking. He said no. My concern is that if there is a boot leaking could it all of a sudden fail and fill the boat with water. This boat is on the trailer when it is not being actively used.
Not only that but I boat on a 55 mile long freshwater lake that is very deep and has no access and not many people beyond half way.
Last week I was camping on the lake for 6 days and ended up with around 3" of water in the bilge. Previous to this I have never had water in the bilge.

What do you all think? Should I have the drive pulled and check it out?
What else could cause this. I have no engine cooling problems. I have run it on a water hose many times looking for the leak and find nothing. I have heard there is one boot that if broken or leaking could fill the boat fast.

Boat Specs:
1992 Maxum 2300SCR
4.3 LX Mercruser with Alpha One Outdrive
Closed cooling (I added a number of years ago)

Thank You ahead of time for any help, ideas, or anything.

[mmwjr]

Since running on a hose doesn’t result in water in the bilge that rules out any engine hoses or engine leaks. There are three bellows that the mechanic replaced; driveshaft, exhaust and shift cable. Only the driveshaft and shift cable leaking would cause water to enter the bilge. Other potential sources are the trim limit and trim position sender wire where they enter the transom plate but more probable is the upper swivel shaft at the top of the transom assembly. Being that the issue didn’t start until the work was performed I would suspect the problem lies there. Find a new mechanic.

[sparkywest]

Thank You for your reply. That’s good information. I definitely have decided to see a different mechanic. I had those bellows changed since the existing ones were still original and figured they were probably getting old.

Thanks
Lee