Mercruiser 165 Gimbal Bearing Removal - First timer needing advice!

[auscarter12]

I'm about to try and tackle replacing the gimbal bearing on my 1974 Mercruiser 165 with the MC-1 drive. I've looked over the stickies, have some good repair manuals, and pretty good mechanical experience. Any advice for a first timer like me before I get in too deep? I'm trying to avoid a $600 repair bill at a marine mechanic. Thanks in advance!

 

[harringtondav]

Gimbal bearing pulls are sometimes fairly easy. Mine have always been a fight. A good three jaw slide hammer will eventually get the job done. I rigged up a plate puller to use with my slide hammer head. The plate rests on the aft face of the bell hsg over the studs. The nut winds the puller head back. It's a slow go, but the gimbal bearing always gives up.

 

[Bt Doctur]

a puller, slide hammer, axel puller, and an installer tool. Do you have the merc manual?

 

[San_Diego_SeaRay]

It's actually pretty simple. I did one on my Bravo 1 yesterday. I'd make sure to have a 4lb hammer with a metal head. Not one of those orange rubber hammers that don't transfer the blow as effectively. Harbor Freight sells them for ~$12.

Also, you'll want to sort out whether or not your new bearing is sealed or will require grease. (If it has a hole in the outer circumference, under the tolerance ring, then it requires grease) If it requires grease, you'll want to have a grease gun with the appropriate grease in it. I used Quicksilver HP Extreme grease. And you'll need to line up the tolerance ring with the bearing hole and the grease hole when you reinstall. Also have zip ties or bungees to hold up the trim cylinders because they get in the way. Also, check the alignment while the old bearing is installed as well as the alignment after the new bearing is installed.

Lastly, I was told yesterday by a very experience Merc mechanic that gimbal bearings rarely fail without water intrusion (the other big culprit would probably be misalignment). So while you're in there, look for signs of water intrusion such as milky grease or rust. Also, (really lastly) look at the drive joints and re-grease them as well as *very important* the coupler.

OK I'm done.

 

[Bondo]

1974 Mercruiser 165 with the MC-1 drive.

Ayuh,..... That's old enough that it might have the big snap-ring holdin' the bearing in, so check before ya try to pull it,.....

If it does, don't put it back in, it's unnecessary,....

 

[Bt Doctur]

Now your really getting into the old ones. Bondo ever see a merc outdrive that has no shift cable ,it has linkage

 

[tank1949]

I'm about to try and tackle replacing the gimbal bearing on my 1974 Mercruiser 165 with the MC-1 drive. I've looked over the stickies, have some good repair manuals, and pretty good mechanical experience. Any advice for a first timer like me before I get in too deep? I'm trying to avoid a $600 repair bill at a marine mechanic. Thanks in advance!

As other said, check alignment on old bearing FIRST!. When you install new bearing, you may bump it by accident and it might give you a false reading as you slid or attempt to slide alignment too in. If old bear not aligned, wood rot may have caused alignment to get out. Then you have more headaches!

 

[kenny nunez]

Or the early large drives that used an automotive clutch activated by a electric motor that wound up a cable to disengage it while a solenoid did the shifting. 215 E

 

[Bondo]

Now your really getting into the old ones. Bondo ever see a merc outdrive that has no shift cable ,it has linkage

Nope,.... Just some antique MC-1s,.....

Did see a MC-0 once, but knew enough to steer clear of it,.....

 

[thumpar]

Autozone will rent you the 3 jaw puller for free. I have used it on my Alpha and my Bravo gimbal bearings. Made quick work of removing them.

 

[Bt Doctur]

I`ll get some pics of it today and post them

 

[kulle]

I did mine for the first time ever, never owned a boat. I borrowed puller from work's maint department, two big pulls and it was out, also did ujoint bellows with no tools. To install the ring i read so many posts about being complex...I used a 1x3(and change) wood block that just fit snuggly in middle of ring and rested on the little edge, with powertune lube, gripped it like a handle and pushed straight in. Of course this forum and everyone's experience helped a lot.

 

[auscarter12]

Lastly, I was told yesterday by a very experience Merc mechanic that gimbal bearings rarely fail without water intrusion (the other big culprit would probably be misalignment). So while you're in there, look for signs of water intrusion such as milky grease or rust. Also, (really lastly) look at the drive joints and re-grease them as well as *very important* the coupler.

OK I'm done.

As of now (without the drive pulled off), I don't think the problem is with my u-joints. BUT i have never tried to grease/replace them in the 4 years I've owned the boat. Any advice for pushing the old u-joint bearings out and installing new ones if needed?

It wouldn't surprise me if I had water intrusion in my U-joint bellow. My drive oil isn't milky, but I've had water leak issues before. The whole design of the bellows and how they're supposed to stay water tight seems like a poor design if you ask me.

 

[auscarter12]

Autozone will rent you the 3 jaw puller for free. I have used it on my Alpha and my Bravo gimbal bearings. Made quick work of removing them.

I read in a lot of posts online that those Autozon pullers don't do the trick and are liable to break... I would love to just rent it from there and not spend the money on a gimbal bearing puller!

Any advice for reinstalling the bellows? I know there is a "special tool" for it, but is it really necessary?

 

[Bt Doctur]

 

[auscarter12]

Do I need to worry about removing the bell housing when I’m replacing the bellows? Does that make it significantly easier or is it possible to not remove it?

 

[thumpar]

I don’t thinks it’s possible without removing unless it’s the exhaust bellows then maybe. Your going to want to do all of them and that usually includes the water tube which you have to remove the bell housing for too. If your shift cable isnt fairly new I would replace it at the same time.

 

[kpg7121]

I read in a lot of posts online that those Autozon pullers don't do the trick and are liable to break... I would love to just rent it from there and not spend the money on a gimbal bearing puller!

Any advice for reinstalling the bellows? I know there is a "special tool" for it, but is it really necessary?

Give it a good soaking with some PB Blaster, if there's any rust in there. When I changed that bearing on my Cobra a couple times I would toss it in the freezer overnight. The metal will shrink just enough to make it easier to tap the bearing home.

 

[auscarter12]

Update on the gimbal bearing:

Used the Autozone slide hammer/puller and it worked great. Sprayed PB blaster around the gimbal bearing every day for 3 days while waiting for parts, so that may have helped. Discovered that whoever replaced the bearing last time not only put it on backwards but did not line up the grease fitting hole like they should. Outer race was completely covering it :nono:

New Question:

After pulling the bearing and oil seal, I discovered a second oil seal behind the first one. Is this normal? I've looked at exploded view drawings in both of my Mercruiser manuals and don't see anything about having 2 oil seals. I was able to get a part number off of it: CR 26-36143. Looked it up and it is infact a Mercruiser oil seal, but I get the feeling it may be an old style? I'm attaching a picture as well. Should I remove this second oil seal before putting on the new oil seal and bearing, or should I leave it?

Thanks for all the help!