Changing Gimball and water pump question

[msargius]

I am about to change my gimball bearing as I had a torn exhaust bellow, u joint bellow and frozen gimball. I put the boat on forward gear and took the drive out. I noticed that there was water sipping into the u joint as it is a bit rusty but water didnot gush out when I took the bellow out. The exhaust bellow was really in bad shape. Well the drive oil is clean with no apparent water and was not leaking out. But, when I ran the boat on the drive way I noticed two things the water was not completly sucked into the boat from the inlet, so I assumed the water pump is defective. Also the water was not coming out at all from the exhaust outlet through the prop. I took the propeller out, and what a suprise. The exhaust casing in the lower unit is completly clogged. I kept on pulling more and more stuff from inside it. My suprise was that what I was pulling was nothing but the engine heat insulation that goes around the engine cover...how it got into the drive is beyond my understanding...I mean the whole thing is clogged, and the only way to clean it is while I am changing the water pump I hope. Funny enough that prop had no problem rotatting. Also Do I need to grease the u joints before I put the drive back in place. While I was cleanning the clogged exhaust I rotate the prop shaft..at start it was rotating in one direction, but now it rotates in both directions...I am worried I got the drive out of gear..the lower unit and the upper are still intact not seperated yet...how can I make sure that the drive is in forward gear...
Please share your thoughts and experiences as it is always appreciated. Thanks

 

[ziggy]

Re: Changing Gimball and water pump question

I am about to change my gimball bearing as I had a torn exhaust bellow, u joint bellow and frozen gimball. I put the boat on forward gear and took the drive out. I noticed that there was water sipping into the u joint as it is a bit rusty but water didnot gush out when I took the bellow out. The exhaust bellow was really in bad shape. Well the drive oil is clean with no apparent water and was not leaking out.

yer gonna have a little work ahead of you.

the fact that the exhaust bellows is in bad shape kinda makes no difference. though it does route the exhaust and cooling water to it's exit at the center of the prop. you can replace with a new bellows or the new style exhaust tube i believe.

the drive shaft bellows is much more important. water intrusion into this area causes multiple problems. rusty gimble brg. rusty ujoints and rusty ujoint drive gear shaft. these your likely to have to replace. good that ya had no water intrusion into the drive lub.

so I assumed the water pump is defective.

inspection of the impeller is a yearly or every 100 hrs service. if your gonna go look at it, ya might as well replace it too.

Also Do I need to grease the u joints before I put the drive back in place.

for sure ya need to do this. but your gonna need to replace them since ya had water intrusion into the bellows area.

While I was cleanning the clogged exhaust I rotate the prop shaft..at start it was rotating in one direction, but now it rotates in both directions...I am worried I got the drive out of gear

that's normal.
what yer looking for is, in
fwd. the prop locks ccw and will ratchet cw
neu. the prop free wheels w/o sound or feel
rev. the prop locks cw and will ratchet ccw.
you can shift the drive with it removed via the shift shaft in the upper. when the shift shaft coupler is facing fwd. the drive is in fwd. to keep it in fwd. put a bungee cord on the prop and load it ccw. if the prop is turned at all in the cw direction, the drive will come out of fwd.

i had your same situation when i got my boat. i ended up replacing many items.
water hose
gimble brg
ujoints
ujoint drive gear shaft
dive gear shaft brg assy.
drive shaft bellows
shift shaft in the bellows and shift lever
shift cable
shift cable bellows
impeller and housing

good luck with your project. go slow, read your mercuriser service manual close so you do it proper the first time.

ya might search my name, ziggy back in nov. 2007. i had me many questions about just what your getting ready to do. some pics too.

sorry can't answer your question about the foreign material in the exhaust cavity. i've no idea how it got there either.

 

[paparoof]

Re: Changing Gimball and water pump question

sorry can't answer your question about the foreign material in the exhaust cavity. i've no idea how it got there either.

That's the easy part - mice or squirrels. My boat sat outside for five years before I bought it and the outdrive was packed with nesting materials.

 

[msargius]

Re: Changing Gimball and water pump question

thanks for the replies
I have a new question? in the sterndrives.com it says I need to use loc-tight when installing the new shift shaft bushing in the bell housing!! Do you advise in doing that? isn't suppose to be tight fit anyway?

 

[cr2k]

Re: Changing Gimball and water pump question

Yes it fits tight, BUT you also want to make sure it seals out any water. The loctite will fill any tiny scratches or voids and keep it from working loose.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Changing Gimball and water pump question

I have a new question? in the sterndrives.com it says I need to use loc-tight when installing the new shift shaft bushing in the bell housing!! Do you advise in doing that? isn't suppose to be tight fit anyway?

personally, i follow my mercruiser service manual for reassembly. s/m 2 for my rig don't say anything about using locktite on the bush itself. i R&Red these bushings on my bell housing and don't beleive i used any locktite on the bush itself. the shift lever screw does use locktite though..

 

[msargius]

Re: Changing Gimball and water pump question

In the manual it says that I should torque the water pump to 25 to 30 in/lb I can't find any torque ranch that small (sears and autozone) ...what do you guys do?

 

[cr2k]

Re: Changing Gimball and water pump question

"I can't find any torque ranch that small "

When they are that small they are usually called Torque Farms.

You would use an inch pound torque wrench 1 ft/ lb. = 12 in. lb.

 

[msargius]

Re: Changing Gimball and water pump question

The only torque ranch that I can find it has a range of 120-960 inch pounds---that's much higher that the required 25-30 inch pounds.... any problem with just making the nuts tights... I noticed the new base and the upper case do not fit perfectly straight as if there is a bow in the casing .... is that normal?

Also I received 2 white plastic washers the original housing used metal washers... What the two washers for?
I can't put the drive back until I do this right...
Your help is much appreciated...thanks