Cost and Procedure for Replacing Gimball Ring on Bravo III

[ni7irs]

Mechanic sloppy work and swivel pin fell out of gimball and gimball ring cracked while underway. Can the ring be repaired without pulling the engine?

 

[Bondo]

Can the ring be repaired without pulling the engine?

Ayuh,.... If the housin' it goes into ain't boogered up,.... Ya,....

It IS alot easier with the motor out though,.... well worth the time, to the fella doin' it,....

Is the sloppy mechanic goin' Good for it,..??

 

[harleyman1975]

I say pull it apart to repair properly. more to do but makes things easier in the long run.

 

[ni7irs]

I dont know if you can see it, but the ring is cracked and the drive is holding by the bellows. Sloppy mechanic hasnt responded. BUt, am i right that it has to be negligence if both pins fell out? What are the odds that this left the factory in 2010 with this problem?

 

[alldodge]

The pins which hold the bell housing might fall out if the ring breaks like yours did. From my view it appears to have happened due to metal fatigue. The pins used to keep the side pivot pins in may have snapped because of fatigue and or torque from the drive coming off. From the look of the stern it has been needing some attention for some time. Appears to have been pained many times, so each time a hair line crack would just get covered up.

I would suggest, pulling both engines and really get into the transom assemblies, the starboard needs replacing

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... There's a barge up in Clayton I've been walkin' by for months that looks 'bout like that,...

It got that way from an impact with the river bottom,.....

What pins are missin',..??
The gimbel pivot pins look to be still in place, as is the top swivel pin,...

I agree with AD, pull the motors, then the transom assemblies to see just how bad it is,...

 

[ericga]

For me it appears someone over-torqued the two top pins. Probably in a desperate attempt to fix a side to side play in the drive.

 

[ni7irs]

Here is the surveyor report. I am trying to figure out what happened here. What I don't understand is how both pins came out. The mechanic says there is evidence of the cotter pins being present. There has to be more to this otherwise drives would be falling off left and right.

 

[alldodge]

The report helps much, the lower pins on the starboard drive fell out, and the port drive pin came out during inspection. With the lower swivel pin missing then this did enough torque to the upper to break the gimbal ring. The pin should have been held in with the cotter pin and may not have been installed correctly or should have been replaced some time back may be due to corrosion .

The upper pin is loose and the bottom fell out. My guess from reading the report and viewing the pics, the drive should have had some work done on it a while back. If the boots where replaced or inspected with the drive off, the slop should have been seen. I'm saying it should have been seen, not that it was. I'm still saying this one happened due to lack of maintenance, and saying this because I don't know what you had done to it prior to use this season.

 

[ni7irs]

So, is it look like it was overtorqued still? Insurance has disclaimed coverage.

 

[alldodge]

IMO no I don't see over torqueing doing this. The ring snapped in two because the lower pin fell out. Does resemble some metal fatigue but the drive went from pushing against the upper and lower pins to just the upper. The power from the motor twisted the drive, the ring broke and the spline shaft came out of the coupler. If the boots didn't hold the drive in place the boat would have probably sunk.

The single cotter pin (item 18) holds the pin in place
http://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/subassembly/30972/1943/160