Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

[TomB985]

So last year early in the season I noticed that my boat was making noise while turning under power. Over the last year it's gotten louder, and after doing some research I think my gimbal bearing might be bad. Unfortunately my dumb *** neglected to grease the fitting every year, and I fear that this is why it's making so much noise.

Is it likely to have gone bad after only ~40-50 hours over the last two years? The boat is not even 25 months old. :grumpy:

 

[ktbarrentine]

Re: Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

Might depend on what the inside of the bellows looks like. Hopefully dry. What did it look like when you removed the drive and did your alignment check? Does that year even have a greasable gimbal bearing anymore?

 

[TomB985]

Re: Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

I've never removed the drive because I never saw anything in the book that required it for 3 years or so. Of course now I can't find the darn book.

 

[TomB985]

Re: Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

Now I'm confused...I can find no grease zerk anywhere near this thing. And the manual I just downloaded mentions no greasing of the gimbal bearing. It's a good thing I'm three weeks out of warranty. :facepalm:

 

[pyrotek]

Re: Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

New drives use perma lube gimbal bearing which don't require greasing and therefore you don't have a zerk fitting. Even on older drives the bellows kit comes with the perma lube gimbal bearing. So that's not the reason.

I think its somewhat normal to make some noise when turning hard. You are making the U-joint pivot at a sharp angle. Not sure how much noise you are talking about.

 

[TomB985]

Re: Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

I think its somewhat normal to make some noise when turning hard. You are making the U-joint pivot at a sharp angle. Not sure how much noise you are talking about.

While turning hard it's louder than the engine and rattles the dashboard. It's definitely getting worse.

 

[TomB985]

Re: Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

I just went back into my Youtube account, and I was concerned with this when the boat was only two months old. Here is the video I took back then...am I going nuts?

2010 Merc 4.3L Alpha1 drive noise - YouTube

 

[ktbarrentine]

Re: Did I trash my gimbal bearing?

Really couldnt tell much from the video..... How much did you have it "trimmed up"? I'm thinking you've got U-joint noise and if it seems to be getting worse (even by your definition), then it is time to spend about ten minutes to pull the drive off and inspect things in the drive bellows. Time for other routine maintenance, as well (I do a full drive pull at least once a year and impeller replacement every two years, regardless of hours.)