2000 Sea Ray 5.7EFI alpha 1 gen2

[Green MeanSR]

I have a knocking sound when turning full left or right. Also occurs when trimming outdrive up. Gimble bearing was checked and determined to be good as well as splines on coupler. Mechanic said u joints are good. He replaced O rings on drive shaft. One ring was had ripped off, other was flat. Thought that would eliminate knocking but didnt. i still think its U joint . Any thoughts on possible other problems?

 

[alldodge]

Was the gimbal ring put in correctly, and is it seated fully?
Look at the gimbal and if you can see cutout on the outer edge of the race then it was installed backwards

If the same mechanic that installed the gimbal is also telling you its good, then suggest ask another or check your self

 

[nola mike]

Was the gimbal ring put in correctly, and is it seated fully?
Look at the gimbal and if you can see cutout on the outer edge of the race then it was installed backwards

I thought they could be installed in either direction, but MCM specifies the direction so that you can't just remove the inner race and bearings, you need to replace the whole thing.

 

[alldodge]

The permalube is the same on both sides and should see a white dot

The old style with cutouts , the center sticks out further if put in backwards

Again main reason is to find out who did the work and is it fully seated

 

[nola mike]

The permalube is the same on both sides and should see a white dot

The old style with cutouts , the center sticks out further if put in backwards

Again main reason is to find out who did the work and is it fully seated

But should be able to seat fully and will function normally either way with either bearing, right?

 

[alldodge]

I'll let someone else answer that one

 

[nola mike]

I'll let someone else answer that one

I think @achris has posted about this, but I can't find it ATM

EDIT: Found this one, but I'm sure there are more...

 

[Green MeanSR]

Was the gimbal ring put in correctly, and is it seated fully?
Look at the gimbal and if you can see cutout on the outer edge of the race then it was installed backwards

If the same mechanic that installed the gimbal is also telling you its good, then suggest ask another or check your self

Different mechanic. Previous mechanic didnt use alignment tool when he installed the Gimbal bearing. This mech. 40 yrs exp with merc stern drives

 

[achris]

I think @achris has posted about this, but I can't find it ATM

EDIT: Found this one, but I'm sure there are more...

This one?

 

[nola mike]

This one?

Not exactly. More about which way the bearing should face, and the reason why mcm specified a direction. And specifically whether installing it "backwards" would have an impact on function

 

[Bt Doctur]

The very early service books state that unless the bearing has spun in its bore you flip it sideways in the slots for replacement. What the manual did not tell you is be careful because the grease hole in the bearing can be reversed and you cannot grease the bearing, this led to a lot of bearing failures. Their fix was to recommend installing with the slots forward to make you replace it as a unit. They even tried saying the bearing was matched to that particular outer ring, that was just bull.

 

[nola mike]

The very early service books state that unless the bearing has spun in its bore you flip it sideways in the slots for replacement. What the manual did not tell you is be careful because the grease hole in the bearing can be reversed and you cannot grease the bearing, this led to a lot of bearing failures. Their fix was to recommend installing with the slots forward to make you replace it as a unit. They even tried saying the bearing was matched to that particular outer ring, that was just bull.

IDK that it's bull. I've never seen a bearing replacement that didn't call for the race to be replaced with the bearing. They're always a matched set. Will it work ok without doing that? Maybe, but I've never seen an official source for any bearing that recommended mismatching

 

[Rick Stephens]

IDK that it's bull. I've never seen a bearing replacement that didn't call for the race to be replaced with the bearing. They're always a matched set. Will it work ok without doing that? Maybe, but I've never seen an official source for any bearing that recommended mismatching

The outer ring is NOT the race, it is the gimbal housing for the bearing. The part that rotates and comes out has both bearing and race. There is no reason whatsoever not to swap out just the bearing if it never failed.

For the original poster, I would replace the u-joints when you have noise whenever the drive isn't straight on. You can use automotive crosses and save enough to pay for a bearing press. The first way to know you have a problem is that it is noisy when you turn or raise the drive. Almost impossible to tell just by wriggling the drive shaft. Typically the only sure way to tell if u-joint needle bearings are failing is to disassemble - and if you are going to do that you just replace em.

 

[nola mike]

The outer ring is NOT the race, it is the gimbal housing for the bearing. The part that rotates and comes out has both bearing and race.

I suppose that the outer ring can't be the race since the rest of the bearing gimbals within it. I'll admit that I haven't disassembled one

 

[flashback]

I suppose that the outer ring can't be the race since the rest of the bearing gimbals within it. I'll admit that I haven't disassembled one

Here ya go Mike, I took my old one apart just for you! Least I could do for all the help I've gotten.

 

[San_Diego_SeaRay]

Here ya go Mike, I took my old one apart just for you! Least I could do for all the help I've gotten.

There's also this old video showing how to separate the bearing from the...well...I'm not sure we've figured out what it's called. I agree it's not a race as the actual bearings don't ride against it.

 

[AShipShow]

I 100% agree with @Rick Stephens ... Sounds like a u-joint problem.. I'd replace em

 

[Rick Stephens]

There's also this old video showing how to separate the bearing from the...well...I'm not sure we've figured out what it's called. I agree it's not a race as the actual bearings don't ride against it.

Carrier