Gimble Bearing

[RHCP1448]

I just bought a wellcraft eclipse 197. I ran it to find out that the Gimble bearing was bad. How hard would it be to change it myself? Or should I just hire a mechanic?

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: Gimble Bearing

Welcome to iBoats. You should have posted this in the MerCruiser forum. Anyways, I changed mine myself. If you have the time, it will save you a few hundred dollars doing it yourself. I got all the parts for $250 (in that ballpark), and all in all, probably a good 8 or 9 hours worth of labor for a first timer. If you take it to the shop, you're looking at a minimum of $800 most likely, as you will also need to do the bellows and possibly u-joints. Usually if the gimbal goes out, it is a pretty safe assumption that the rest of those are gone as well.

 

[RHCP1448]

Re: Gimble Bearing

Do you need any special tools to change the gimble bearing?

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: Gimble Bearing

Special tools: alignment tool ($50), hinge pin tool ($20), and one bit of advice is instead of buying exhaust bellows, get an exhaust tube, if you decide to replace the bellows as well. It only takes 2 minutes to install, I bought the bellows, fought with them for an hour or so, and gave up. If you get the bellows you will also need a bellows expander tool.

 

[RHCP1448]

Re: Gimble Bearing

Thank you for all of your help