can anyone tell me how bad this is?

[arty007]

hello everyone today i had a chance to work on my boat a lil project i purchased recently and removed the stern.(a 228 mercruiser) I noticed rust on the u joints and some sort of mud looking something im no boat expert but am pretty handy.. i know this u joint does not look good! im just wondering is it normal for these to turn this way over time? or might there be a leak somewhere causing rust?where should i look... any advice would be appreciated

 

[achris]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

That isn't bad, that isn't even very bad. That, my friend, is REALLY bad.

The rust indicates that water has got into the bellows (where is shouldn't be) and has rusted the steel. It will also have gotten into the uni-joint bearings and they will be history now. It may have also rusted the yoke shaft to the point that the next time the engine is run, with the drive on, it will chew up the front seal and all the oil will leave the top box and cook the bearings and gears in there.

The first thing to do is find the hole though which the water entered. Then remove the bellows and assess the flanges that the bellows mount to. The intruding water often eats the flanges and a new set of bellows won't seal up properly.

Chris..........

 

[bigbob_FTW]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

mine wasn't quite that bad, but close. Plan on a new yoke, as well as u-joints, gimble bearing, and new bellows, at the very least.

 

[Bondo]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

Ayuh,... That's a Nasty lookin' gimbel housing,... Saltwater boat,..?? Gotta be...

The Waterport is almost corroded Shut,...
I'd consider Up-grading to an Alpha transom assembley from a Freshwater boat...

 

[Don S]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

Once you remove the bellhousing from the gimbal ring, and get the bellow off, check the surfaces the bellows clamps to on both the bellhousing and the transom shield. I would bet money they are corroded off like the picture below circled in yellow.
The surfaces should look like what is circled in blue.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

oh DAM! Yea..

Change all your bellows while your at it.
Change:
Ujoints
shift cable (while it's all apart)
If the bellows flange is corroded like the above picture, then upgrade as mentioned above or swap out the assembly. I'm not sure if the engine needs to be pulled to change it out though.

Scrape the water hole with a screw driver. Some times it's just built up in one area.... See what you can clean out with the screw driver.

Drain the drive oil. Let us know what the oil looks like? Should be clear. open the drive top cover - should be nice and clean too.

Let us know what you find...Good luck..

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

I love how the tolerance ring and everything came out, gotta be a saltwater rig.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

Arty007,
Thanks for your timely post..Welcome Aboard..
If it makes ya feel better, my exact set up looks as bad or worse..So you saved me the hassle of posting a thread on mine..They would have laughed at me though..

 

[arty007]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

thanks for the advice guys i appreciate it.
today i did more deck work than anything cut out the deck, removed saturated foam,removed the seats,side panels and now am going to remove the engine.... stringers are all rotted and need replaceing im thinking of making them out of fiberglass..pros & cons ? glass vs wood.i will be posting pics as soon as i get the bell housing off.. does the bell housing need a special tool to remove it? here are some pics of work so far.

 

[coastalcruiser]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

when you take off your bell housing it's just sockets and spanners, you will need an Allen wrench for one bolt. and look at the very bottom of the U tube surprise! there are two bolts you can't see!
Look in boat building and restoration for your stringers, lots of good ideas.
Myself I just took the wood out and built up them using fiberglass

 

[arty007]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

coastalcruiser
thats the way i was going to try to do them... (out of glass) but my question is are the screws going to go from deck to glass stringers or am i gonna have to put some sort of rip on top of stringer so plywood can grip on? how did you do yours?

 

[arty007]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

Ayuh,... That's a Nasty lookin' gimbel housing,... Saltwater boat,..?? Gotta be...



dont know ...i got if from a guy whos brother (the owner)got deported and
didnt know much ove... all he knows is it was sitting for approx 4 years in his back yard.






The Waterport is almost corroded Shut,...
I'd consider Up-grading to an Alpha transom assembley from a Freshwater boat...

cleaned right up with a screwgee.. also what is the diference from an alpha transom and what i got? oh yeah...i dont know what i got!! can to help me figure out?

 

[ziggy]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

ya didn't say what year 228. but i looks a lot like my 1 drive. there should be a serial number on it on the mercruiser sticker on the side of the drive. this will be how you really id it. the s/n may also be under the sticker too.... or

go here...http://www.mercstuff.com/howdoi.htm second one down, how do i know what outdrive i have..

 

[ziggy]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

good find, but i have a comment. that drive is the 1.65 gear ratio, and he has a 228, i'd think the gear ratio would be different. if so, he might have to chg gears. bet those are pricey. so unless he's got the expensive mercruiser tools, he might be better off $'s wise to just get a sei upper and be done with it..

fwiw, i did drive gear brgs. and ft. seal and yoke and ujoints on my 1 drive upper i'd guess i spent 250-300 in oem parts. + i had to buy a torque wrench, + i ended up borrowing merc specialty tools to shim it, + buy a couple merc. tools too.. bet i was up to 500. that's getting pretty close to a new sei upper... just food for thought..

another thought too. the input shaft into the engine coupler are different lengths between the L6 w/ 1.65 gear ratio compared to the v8... maybe use the old one?

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

fwiw, i did drive gear brgs. and ft. seal and yoke and ujoints on my 1 drive upper i'd guess i spent 250-300 in oem parts. + i had to buy a torque wrench, + i ended up borrowing merc specialty tools to shim it, + buy a couple merc. tools too.. bet i was up to 500. that's getting pretty close to a new sei upper... just food for thought

sans warranty..my 2 cents

 

[ziggy]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

i'm gonna guess a 1.5 gear ratio. here's a chart... i'm assuming since we've no year on his 228 that the first chart applies..

http://www.seilermarine.com/info/mercruiser-drive-ratio-chart.htm

kind of a close ratio, might get away with a prop change, but that wouldn't be the proper fix.
a 228 would be a v8,
looks like the 1:1.65 gear ratio was only on a 165hp L6. a v8 and a L6 i'm just per near sure are different length shafts. http://www.mercstuff.com/driveshafts.htm

if the case itself is eroded just replacing the upper half of the drive would be a cheap fix.

i agree, it would be if a fella could find exactly the right one, gear ratio and all, + know that it was a good upper. but how do you know. w/o the right tools it's a nightmare expense wise to deal with the internals of a drive from what i see. that's why, to me, the sei looks mighty lucrative.. i know it's not a merc. and i really like oem stuff, but that warentee really puts the iceing on the cake..

i'm a pessimist too. suspicious of used parts for being serviceable.. but that's me... and my 2 cent

 

[coastalcruiser]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

coastalcruiser
thats the way i was going to try to do them... (out of glass) but my question is are the screws going to go from deck to glass stringers or am i gonna have to put some sort of rip on top of stringer so plywood can grip on? how did you do yours?

The way I did the stringers, Went online found videos on how to fiberglass. learned this cool trick, you can use waxpaper to build up layers.
anyway screwed rails on the top of the old stringers, glassed them in over lapping the rails to add strength. to support the floors used cross pieces (Gussets) to support the plywood they are v shaped like the hull and have the bottom cut out for bilge water.
I'm a woodworker and have a bandsaw so that helps, also a dull electric chainsaw gets that wet foam out fast!
Here are some photos.
Rob
http://picasaweb.google.com/northvanartisan

 

[arty007]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

ya didn't say what year 228. but i looks a lot like my 1 drive. there should be a serial number on it on the mercruiser sticker on the side of the drive. this will be how you really id it. the s/n may also be under the sticker too.... or

go here...http://www.mercstuff.com/howdoi.htm second one down, how do i know what outdrive i have..

its a 1978 228,serial # below the 228 plate is 5133264 1.50R

 

[coastalcruiser]

Re: can anyone tell me how bad this is?

http://picasaweb.google.com/northvanartisan/Bayliner#5235952852353402658