Volvo outdrive commander clanking

[gregga]

Quick question, I have a 1977 whitewater fishing boat. My question is the out drive which is a volvo commander (mated to a 351) is making a really bad clanking noise. When I spin the prop the lower unit seems ok but when you move the drive up and down by hand (like when you check the gimbal pins and bearings) it makes a really bad clanking noise. My question is do these drives have a coupler in the bellows near the transom that have a u joint setup? I have absolutely no knowledge of volvo drives. Just trying to get my boat back on the water. So I was wondering if I pull this drive what my next step would be?? Thank you very much..

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Sounds like you may have some damaged ujoints. Remove the upper gear box of the outdrive like this http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=309095 and see what kind of damage there is.
Water in the bellows ?

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Thank you very much. And the boat hasn't been in the water for a while now ( new paint job) so I will pull the drive off and check the bellows first and foremost to see if it was leaking.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

so I will pull the drive off and check the bellows first and foremost to see if it was leaking.

You DO NOT have to pull the complete outdrive, only the upper gear box.

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Ok perfect!! Thank you very much Don.

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Well I pulled the upper housing and the u-joints actually seemed ok, but half the gimbal bearing was laying in the bellows, all the rollers from the bearing were laying in the bellows and there were a lot of metal shards in it. you can see the bearing is twisted up, the output shaft seems ok though, next step is to obviously replace the gimbal bearing. As stated before never worked on a Volvo out drive so some instructions on how these gimbal bearings get replaced would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Those bearings had to be growling and making some noise for some time.
Time to pull the engine and rebuild the flywheel housing.

View attachment Overhauling the Flywheel Cover.pdf

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Thank you very much Don, and yes she started clanking half way through the trip that day and I ran her all the way back. I have another question... what if I was thinking about scrapping the Volvo drive and replacing it with a Bravo One drive? I have a complete Bravo setup in the garage and Im not a big fan of the Volvo setup. Would it be too difficult to replace the Volvo unit with a Bravo one unit?

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Won't be a problem as long as you have everything for the Bravo, including engine, wireing harnesses all the way up to the controls, including the shifter/Throttle control. Every thing Volvo goes and Mercruiser replaces it.
You will also need a new transom, the cutout for the Bravo is a lot smaller than the Volvo.

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Ouch lol, welp mine as well just pull the engine and have someone rebuild the flywheel housing!!

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

If you can pull the engine, you can rebuild the housing. It only takes 2 bearings and 2 seals.

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Ok I will do it in house, I dont know if this is a stupid question but would you happen to have any part numbers for this type of job? I did see the part numbers for the sepcialized tools required.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

http://www.volvopentastore.com/Conn...on_id.847342889--store_id.366--view_id.771077

Items 63 through 68 covers all the seals, bearings, and snap rings if you need them.

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Thank you very much Don. It is greatly appreciated!!

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Hey Don,

Quick question.. I have everything done to complete pulling the engine (wiring, engine mounts, fuel system) except for the transom assembly. How do I go about removing the engine with this drive setup? I'm used to bravo's where you just have to pull the out drive shaft back far enough to be able to lift the engine up and out! Thank you very much.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Just leave the flywheel housing on the engine. Remove the 6 bolts and clamp ring as shown below and pull engine and all at one time.

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Thank you very much Don! Greatly appreciated as always!!

 

[gregga]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Hey Don,

I removed the 6 bolts but there are no locking tabs? I removed the 6 bolts from the clamp ring but it will not pull off of the transom? I see 3 holes that are covered in a blue type silicone material that look like bolt holes but I do not know their purpose? I dont see any locking tab plates on the front of the clamp ring.

 

[captmello]

Re: Volvo outdrive commander clanking

Hey Don,

I removed the 6 bolts but there are no locking tabs? I removed the 6 bolts from the clamp ring but it will not pull off of the transom? I see 3 holes that are covered in a blue type silicone material that look like bolt holes but I do not know their purpose? I dont see any locking tab plates on the front of the clamp ring.

Use the three holes to thread the mounting bolts into and jack the locking ring out.