Jiminthekeys
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2012
- Messages
- 83
ok, here's the story. Took my boat out one day 2007 Mercruiser 3.0L with Alpha 1 Gen 2 and I started to hear a chatter/rattle sound coming from the outdrive area when trimming up slightly (like a tap or two) at high RPM (3500-4000) or making moderately tight turns at the same speed. The noise would stop if either I 1.) Straightened the boat out from a turn 2. Slowed down. or 3. Trimmed all the way in. Sometimes I would need a combination of those to make it stop. In my boat went and had a mobile repairman come out to my dock.
Now you are all thinking U joints or Gimbal bearing! I was too. In fact the U joints did have some slop in them when the drive was removed and subsequently replaced them. While the mechanic had everything apart I had him replace the bellows (6years old but otherwise still sealed dry), and gimbal bearing even though that bearing looked fine he put a new permlube one in there. Also, I must note the drive oil was inspected and free of contaminants and replaced since it needed to be drained for the repairs anyway.
After the repairs where finished I took the boat out and to my disappointment the same damn noise is still there and still under the same conditions ($860 wasted)! In fact it now even will make the noise sometimes at WOT 4000-4200 fully trimmed in! I can't even adjust my trim enough to get to the full RPM range for my boat (44-4800RPM). Other than this sound there is really no performance issues (other than not being able to trim or go full speed without forcing the noise). Best way to describe what I am hearing is BB's in a glass jar or something like that.... I also noticed my drive lube monitor go down about an inch topper her up, went out for a few hours the next week and lube went down a little again. No leaks in bilge or out of drive case and no water in drive oil. Also no discoloration of any kind (this was not there before). Maybe it had some air or the mechanic didn't fill it correctly?
I am at a loss and now don't want to use the boat at all for fear of damaging something and being more screwed if I'm (knock on wood) not already... Could it be bearings in the yoke end of the drive shaft?
Now you are all thinking U joints or Gimbal bearing! I was too. In fact the U joints did have some slop in them when the drive was removed and subsequently replaced them. While the mechanic had everything apart I had him replace the bellows (6years old but otherwise still sealed dry), and gimbal bearing even though that bearing looked fine he put a new permlube one in there. Also, I must note the drive oil was inspected and free of contaminants and replaced since it needed to be drained for the repairs anyway.
After the repairs where finished I took the boat out and to my disappointment the same damn noise is still there and still under the same conditions ($860 wasted)! In fact it now even will make the noise sometimes at WOT 4000-4200 fully trimmed in! I can't even adjust my trim enough to get to the full RPM range for my boat (44-4800RPM). Other than this sound there is really no performance issues (other than not being able to trim or go full speed without forcing the noise). Best way to describe what I am hearing is BB's in a glass jar or something like that.... I also noticed my drive lube monitor go down about an inch topper her up, went out for a few hours the next week and lube went down a little again. No leaks in bilge or out of drive case and no water in drive oil. Also no discoloration of any kind (this was not there before). Maybe it had some air or the mechanic didn't fill it correctly?
I am at a loss and now don't want to use the boat at all for fear of damaging something and being more screwed if I'm (knock on wood) not already... Could it be bearings in the yoke end of the drive shaft?
