drive noise? in neutral?

[blylock]

2002 wellcraft 5.0L, alpha gen 2 drive.

i get a howling noise in gear between 1500 and 3500 rpms, the sound like rips through the boat with its high pitch. it also shakes pretty bad at low rpms on sharp turns.

the gear oil is free of water, in fact its as clean as it was when i changed it last year. i changed the prop also.

i get no shakes or howling over 3500 rpms, and no shaking on sharp turns either as long as im 3/4 to WOT.

My boat has low hours, and its well maintained.

gimbal bearing? maybe and or u joints?
also odd, it vibrates in neutral all rpm range.

any help would be appreciated! and i did scan through the posts regarding these problems. the vibrating in neutral throws me off.

thanks and happy boating!

 

[Don S]

Re: drive noise? in neutral?

Pull the drive and check for water in the bellows. .

 

[blylock]

Re: drive noise? in neutral?

UPDATE...........

Pulled the drive, not real complicated...

completely dry bellows, i feel no real roughness on the gimbal bearing, yet there looks like grease spit out of it, its not loose either. im an auto mechanic so im pretty familiar with bearings, it still could be bad.

some play in one of the U-joints, probably the cause of the vibration, but the noise?

any more thoughts experts?

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: drive noise? in neutral?

Replace the ujoints.....​

 

[Don S]

Re: drive noise? in neutral?

The gimbal bearing should be completely smooth, you should feel no roughness at all. If you feel any, replace the gimbal bearing. If one ujoint is loose, replace both.
When you pulled the drive, did you put the shifter into forward before you pulled the drive?
The drive should be pulled yearly to lube the ujoints, gimbal bearing, check the engine alignment (very important) and lube the input shaft.
You also might want to replace the impeller while you have the drive off. On the Gen II drives, they should be replaced every 3 years.
Here is a link to a free online OEM manual for your drive.
http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/14/14cover.pdf

USE IT.