Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

[tinkeringwackyone]

hi all, just did a rebuild of my 87 Sea Ray. Boat ran great, shifts good, replaced the gimbal bearing. My problem is this:

When I turn the outdrive all the way left or right, I get a knocking sound coming form the outdrive. It almost sounds like the u joint housing is beating against itself. 1/4 turn back towards the straight position gets rid of this noise.

Ran it last week for a few hours with no problem except this issue. Just had to keep in mind not to turn as short.

It is an 87 Sea Ray with the alpha one outdrive. aligned with new gimbal bearing, u-joints felt good.

Any ideas would help.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

hi all, just did a rebuild of my 87 Sea Ray. Boat ran great, shifts good, replaced the gimbal bearing. My problem is this:

When I turn the outdrive all the way left or right, I get a knocking sound coming form the outdrive. It almost sounds like the u joint housing is beating against itself. 1/4 turn back towards the straight position gets rid of this noise.

Ran it last week for a few hours with no problem except this issue. Just had to keep in mind not to turn as short.

It is an 87 Sea Ray with the alpha one outdrive. aligned with new gimbal bearing, u-joints felt good.

Any ideas would help.

Ayuh,... Pull the drive,...
If ya don't see where anything is beatin' up it's neighbor,...

Change the U-joints....

 

[Cap’n Ray]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

+1 Bond-o... Pull that drive and find out what's wrong before it gets any worse!

 

[nikon]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

Had the same thing happen to me, pulled the drive an re-aligned the engine. Made my noise go away. Re-greased the joints too.

 

[tinkeringwackyone]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

That will be my next plan of attack, like I mentioned ran great at low and high rpm with no noise until I turned all the way left or right, back of 1/4 turn and it went away. Will pull the drive and take a look see.

sail on.....tink

 

[FishHog]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

I had the same issues for 10 years, when I neglected to grease my steering mechanism. A good grease and it would quiet right down. Not saying that is your issue, but might be worth a check.

FishHog

 

[dg512055]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

I believe there is some info out there about u-joint end play, relating to incorrect clips that hold the caps in place. My drive had the same type of problem, even after aligning the engine and new gimbal bearing. I pulled the drive and sure enough there was a small amount of side to side play in one u-joint. I used a large c-clamp to squeeze the caps in tight so there was no play. Noise went away, and so far has not come back. I did not think about it then, but I could have used a punch to peen some small spots into the cross to permanently tighten the caps against the clips. I know the correct thing would be to buy new clips, but I did not have the time, it will be added to the "winter list".

 

[90stingray]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

I had to pull my drive a second time after changing my gimbal bearing too. I guess the bearing was so loud, I never heard the ujoints when I was turning. So much better with all new parts back there. And don't buy "marine" ujoints. Get them from your favorite auto parts house. Part number reference in sticky at the top... you will save a bunch o cash

 

[tinkeringwackyone]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

Took the outdrive off last night but before I did I turned the wheel all the way to the right. I noticed that there was about 3/4 inch of slop in the steering when it was turned that far. This was back on the gimbal housing assembly/steeriing arm itself and not in the wheel. When I straightened it out it went away.

I did check the u-joints and they seemed good, no slop or anything in them. The alignment was right on. I took my tool and was able to slide it into the coupler with ease. the only thhing I didn't do was rotate the engine. The splines on the outdrive shaft still had the factory cut marks on them all around the shaft which told me alignment was good as well.

I think that I have a steering issue, but may check into u-joints as well, just don't have the spanner wrench to take the retainer off with. I do need a new steering cable as it is very tight, this may be causing the steering to have issues I have no feedback due to the cable not moving freely.

sail on.....tink

 

[Bondo]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

I do need a new steering cable as it is very tight, this may be causing the steering to have issues I have no feedback due to the cable not moving freely.

Ayuh,... Pull the aft end of the cable outa the aluminum tube, 'n clean out the corrosion...
Ya might not need the cable...

 

[tinkeringwackyone]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

Bondo, is there a way to take apart the cable. It looks like 'The Rack' type rack and pinion steering system. I had it out of the boat once and was unsure of how to get it apart. took the four bolts off from under the dash and pulled it out, but was unsure how to get it out of the 'jacket' if you will. so I reinstalled it and decided to run it that way until I get a new one.

I will do some research on it to see if I can get it apart further.

sail on.....tink

 

[tinkeringwackyone]

Re: Alpha One with Noise when steering all the way left or right.

My wife pulled a quickie if you will, at 4:00 pm she wanted to know if I wanted to go to the lake. (first time in a long time that has happened) anyhow, I raced home to put the outdrive back on. Everything slid into place like a glove, ( I haven't replaced the u-joints) As we were at the lake the 'knocking noise' was gone. I believe I had air in the power steering system which finally bled out.
Boat ran good and we had a good time even though it was a short trip.

sail on.....tink