Help identify SX drive gimbal bearing part/seal that came out during inspection

[insttech1]

Hi All,
I have a '99 SX M drive, and I pulled the drive to replace the bellows and inspect the gimbal bearing.

There was a lot of grease around the bearing, so I placed a finger in to clean some of it out. From the back side of the bearing, a "part" came out that looks kind've like a combination of an o-ring and a spring. (I did not pull the bearing out as I did not get the correct puller--yet. This part seemed to be laying loosely behind the gimbal, and appears to have just been held around that spot by all of the grease that was there....)

I am not finding mention of this part in the service manual. I am currently trying to look up the complete parts manual to see what it is and where it belongs.

It is about 1.5" in outside diameter, and just less than an 1/8th inch thick.

Is this a seal? Did the back side of the gimbal somehow fail and this is a part that should actually be inside of the gimbal bearing? The front side of the bearing looks great, there is free motion, no slop, and I was not planning on replacing it...

Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[kmarine]

Re: Help identify SX drive gimbal bearing part/seal that came out during inspection

Is this one of the drive shaft O rings perhapse? Coud even be an old one.

 

[insttech1]

Re: Help identify SX drive gimbal bearing part/seal that came out during inspection

No I looked those up....those are rubber.
This actually looks like the "oring" from the transom shield "repair kit", per some other posts that I found, and following some other references to the volvo parts website. Of course this part does not show up as part of the drive system, or anything related to the gimbal bearing or nearby seals, even though they look from the parts diagrams like they're right next to each other.

What's very perplexing is, how did this come loose? Did a previous owner knock it loose replacing the gimbal bearing? It's not damaged or distorted at all.

I even found a post on another site asking if this thing was even needed. The response was it keeps water out. Hmmm....not too sure how something that small (and porous--it's made of a spring!!) can keep water out.

Any more info is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[insttech1]

Re: Help identify SX drive gimbal bearing part/seal that came out during inspection

OK I figured it out.
This part is integral to the seal that sits BEHIND the gimbal bearing. It provides spring pressure around the rubber seal that, in turn, puts slight pressure on the drive shaft. I "think" the intent is to keep excess grease out of the cavity where the drive shaft sits before it enters the spline coupline on the back of the engine.

I also looked at my drive shaft very closely. It has some very minor "scoring" in the area where this seal resides. That leads me to believe that this spring rubber piece has just been in there loose for a while, and not really doing its intended job, and has placed a nice little shiny ring around the drive shaft where it's been rubbing.

So the quandary....to pull and replace everything, or not? I really think that if I was at risk of water intrusion beyond this seal, that my bellows, the gimbal bearing itself, and the two orings on the driveshaft would have to pass water before it even reached this seal, which really isn't applying a lot of pressure, in my opinion.

Comments?

Thanks!!

 

[nitwhit]

Re: Help identify SX drive gimbal bearing part/seal that came out during inspection

That would be the garter spring on the grease seal. Mine came off while checking alignment once and I did replace it but it is a job to get to it. Have to pull and replace gimbal bearing and also work hard to pull that seal out. I later noticed our resident Volvo guru Don S. does not seem very concerned about them and their value in that location. Look at this thread:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=513846&highlight=garter

Wish I had read that before I fixed mine.:facepalm: