Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

[joe_nj]

I have my outdrive and bell housing off to replace the bellows. I want to make sure that the gimbal bearing is getting greased and I'm not sure where to insert the grease. I saw two postings that mentioned it.

"With the drive off you can clean out any old grease from the bellows and pump in some new gimbal bearing grease and watch it push out any old grease/moisture. MarkSee "

"Just line the hole in the bearing up with grease zirk hole in the gimbal housing. When you grease it, pump grease till you see it come out of the bearing, turn the bearing with your fingers and pump some more. When grease comes out all the way around, clean up the excess and you are done. Don S "

Is it through the zirk fitting shown in the attachment?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

I have my outdrive and bell housing off to replace the bellows. I want to make sure that the gimbal bearing is getting greased and I'm not sure where to insert the grease. I saw two postings that mentioned it.

"With the drive off you can clean out any old grease from the bellows and pump in some new gimbal bearing grease and watch it push out any old grease/moisture. MarkSee "

"Just line the hole in the bearing up with grease zirk hole in the gimbal housing. When you grease it, pump grease till you see it come out of the bearing, turn the bearing with your fingers and pump some more. When grease comes out all the way around, clean up the excess and you are done. Don S "

Is it through the zirk fitting shown in the attachment?

Nope,... Look at the 4 o'clock position...

 

[joe_nj]

Re: Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

Got it! Thanks! It had a little grease covering it and I missed it. Now I understand why that hump is there between that fitting and the bearing making it more difficult to get at the clamp screws.

So for that one, I should not pump in 2-4-C. The dealer says they use Johnson Triple Guard grease which I happen to have.

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

Well, here's what Merc. has listed for the various greases and what they are used for:

1-u-joint and gimbal bearing
2-engine coupler and spline
3-24c--various
4-special lube 101--not often

I, wanting the best chance of success, bought all 4 and use all the above as recommended in the manual though here on the forum folks have different opinion on what else can be used.

If using the Merc. grease for a gimbal bearing you would obtain #1 in the list.

Mark

 

[joe_nj]

Re: Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

Mark,
Ok, I see there is something called Quicksilver U-Joint and Gimbal Bearing Lubricant. My dealer said that Merc now recommends using Quicksilver Extreme Grease. This time, I used the Evinrude Johnson Triple Guard for the Gimbal because I had a tube already but I'll have to check to be sure I can use that in the u-joint too or else I'll buy #1 above.
Thanks.

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

....My dealer said that Merc now recommends using Quicksilver Extreme Grease.....

I was not familiar with that product for either an Alpha or Bravo and having read the manuals pretty closely regarding what grease to use so I did a google for "quicksilver extreme grease" to see what it was.

Maybe our past or present Merc. technicians can comment on this product or what it might really be good for but I'm not getting warm and fuzzies about using it.

What I seemed to find when searching that product was returning results of it actually being the Merc. "Anti Corrosion Grease" , part #92-8M0071838 with comment: Great for steering linkage and all other pivot points. Not for use on ball, roller, or needle bearings
Quicksilver Extreme Grease from Wholesale Marine

Then in searching that part number I got some varying results where some other webpages in my search results indicated that product being used in lower hp Outboard applications, other results indicating it has been replaced with "Engine Coupler Spline" grease; never could find anything saying it was for an outdrive gimbal bearing.

Not saying your dealer is necessarily wrong that it can't be used for an outdrive but just doesn't seem good until you get confirmation from another source.

As Bond-o says, any grease is better than no grease.

Mark

 

[achris]

Re: Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

The main thing to watch is that any grease used on bearings, be they ball, needle or roller, not contain Teflon (which 2-4-C does). The reason is because Teflon is a friction reducer, and will cause the balls, needles or rollers to slide rather than roll...

So, for gimbal bearing, any grease that does not contain Teflon will do the job.

Chris..........

 

[joe_nj]

Re: Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

I was not familiar with that product for either an Alpha or Bravo and having read the manuals pretty closely regarding what grease to use so I did a google for "quicksilver extreme grease" to see what it was.

Maybe our past or present Merc. technicians can comment on this product or what it might really be good for but I'm not getting warm and fuzzies about using it.

What I seemed to find when searching that product was returning results of it actually being the Merc. "Anti Corrosion Grease" , part #92-8M0071838 with comment: Great for steering linkage and all other pivot points. Not for use on ball, roller, or needle bearings
Quicksilver Extreme Grease from Wholesale Marine

Then in searching that part number I got some varying results where some other webpages in my search results indicated that product being used in lower hp Outboard applications, other results indicating it has been replaced with "Engine Coupler Spline" grease; never could find anything saying it was for an outdrive gimbal bearing.

Not saying your dealer is necessarily wrong that it can't be used for an outdrive but just doesn't seem good until you get confirmation from another source.

As Bond-o says, any grease is better than no grease.

Mark

I bought a tube of "Quicksilver High Performance Extreme Grease," 92-8M0071838, for the spline. According to the dealer, there's a recent tech advisory that says Merc will do away with all the variations of grease and just have 2 kinds: 2-4-C and this stuff with the part number 92-8M0071838.

On the front of the tube, it says:
For use on...
steering systems/cable
throttle and shift cable..
Drive shaft splines
Gimbal bearings
U-Joints
Suspension systems
chassis
ball joints
disc brakes and ABS brakes
Trailer wheel bearings

on the back it says,
Formulated for high temperature and high load applications
Replaces:
QS Engine Coupler Spline Grease P/N 92-802869Q1
QS U-Joint and Gimbal Bearing Lubricant P/N 92-802870Q1 and 92-802871Q1
QS anti-corrosive grease P/N 92-802867Q1

You may have had a typo above on the anti-corrosive grease P/N as it couldn't be the same as Extreme Grease.

The dealer also said that when my 1987 stern-drive manual was printed, 2-4-C did not have Teflon in it so we could use it on things with bearings but now, with the Teflon formulation of 2-4-C, we can't.

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Lubricating Gimbal Bearing

I bought a tube of "Quicksilver High Performance Extreme Grease," 92-8M0071838, for the spline. According to the dealer, there's a recent tech advisory that says Merc will do away with all the variations of grease and just have 2 kinds: 2-4-C and this stuff with the part number 92-8M0071838.

On the front of the tube, it says:
For use on...
steering systems/cable
throttle and shift cable..
Drive shaft splines
Gimbal bearings
U-Joints
Suspension systems
chassis
ball joints
disc brakes and ABS brakes
Trailer wheel bearings

on the back it says,
Formulated for high temperature and high load applications
Replaces:
QS Engine Coupler Spline Grease P/N 92-802869Q1
QS U-Joint and Gimbal Bearing Lubricant P/N 92-802870Q1 and 92-802871Q1
QS anti-corrosive grease P/N 92-802867Q1

Thanks for the update. That's great news they are replacing 3 with 1.
I'll make sure I buy the new stuff when any of mine run out.

Mark