Volvo Penta SX-M drive Gimbal bearing obliterated and Gimbal Bearing Housing damaged

[MacPointMan]

A few weeks ago I purchased a 2002 Chaparral 220 SSI. This boat has been repowered with an Indmar Assault 310 350 / 5.7 liter engine from the original Volvo Penta 5.0 liter engine and equipped with a Volvo Penta SX-M drive. I have been working on the boat taking care of maintenance and other issues. I decided to take her out to check how well she ran.

The good news is the runs great. however we noticed a vibration and noise when steering and trimming. We got the boat back home and pulled the drive and found that the Gimbal Bearing was completely obliterated inside the U Joint Bellows. That will cause a hell of a racket and a lot of vibration as well as potential damage. we also noticed that there was no gasket on the drive.

I noticed that the Gimbal Bearing Housing was damaged as a result.

Obviously I need to replace the Gimbal Bearing. I plan on changing the bellows and perhaps the U joints if it continues to make noise. After cleaning everything up they seem to be pretty good and have no play in them at all.

I can see that the Gimbal bearing housing is listed as a separate part number. The question is can it be replaced. If so how difficult is it to replace.

Here in the photo you can see that the inner race of the gimbal bearing is missing. you can also see one of the bearings left in the U Joint Bellows. It came out attached to the U Joint shaft. I was able to tap it off after using a bit of PB Blaster on it for a few minutes.

 

[Scott06]

Best bet looked for a used fresh water gimbal housing or complete transom take out. You have to pull the engine to replace this. If there was no gasket in there seller knew this was damaged and in need of a fairly expensive repair, slapped it back together. The rest of the bearing is missing...
id go back there and adjust the guys head with a crow bar as you were set up

 

[Lou C]

That’s a shame because that kind of damage is easily preventable by regular maintenance. That means pulling the drive at the end of each season and checking for water in the D/S bellows and roughness in the gimble bearing and either looseness or stiffness in the u joints. Replacing the gimble housing is a project. Engine pull, etc. You can find those housings used on eBay. If I were checking out an I/O boat for sale and it made any noise or vibs from the transom mount if the owner was unwilling to have the drive pulled and an inspection done I’d walk from the deal because as you’ll find out unless you can do all the labor yourself this job will be well into a couple grand.
BTW the Volvo SX does not use a gasket between the drive and the pivot housing.

 

[MacPointMan]

Thank you for your responses. Sorry for being late on this as I have been traveling for work.

Love the comment about adjusting the guys head with a crow bar. I purchased the boat for a great price and fully expected issues.

The price reflects that. This boat has been neglected and it shows in the outward appearance as such I fully expected other issues to rise to the surface.

I agree that the original owner had the boat checked out was told of the damage was most likely quoted a bunch of greenbacks to fix it and figured she's an old boat anyhow lets see what I can get for her in trade.

I purchased the boat from the dealer as is for a great price as a result. The dealer had been working on offloading the boat for quite some time.

After much deliberation and discussion and talking to others I have decided to give her the full Monty.

Pull the engine, do a complete overhaul, completely clean the bilge and engine bay with the engine removed, put new gelcoat the bilge. Replace any and all necessary parts on the engine, completely rebuild the Transom assembly: in the process we will remove the swim platform and detail the crap out of the boat (Gelcoat is in great shape) then reinstall the swim platform. Redo the upholstery where it needs to be done and shine her up with all stainless steel fittings. I plan on making several upgrades in the process.

In the end she will be an amazing boat for us as a family to enjoy for years to come. The goal is to have everything done before the next season.

 

[Lou C]

Well that’s a good plan sounds like you have a good idea of what needs being done to put it into good shape so it’s reliable. By the time you’re done you’ll know it inside & out. And then if you do the required maintenance each season you won’t have repeated troubles. It doesn’t take that much once you are set up for it (factory shop manual, drive jack & alignment tool). I’ve had ours 18 years and have had very little trouble with the drive system just because the maintenance was always done.

 

[Scott06]

Good to hear you knew what you were getting into and paid appropriately.
I did the same thing five years ago- bought a boat with a known cracked engine block. Did the repower myself and it has been perfect for my family use.

 

[MacPointMan]

Thank you all. I knew there could be potential issues. Had hoped not as serious as this but we all can't hit the boat lottery. With her being a Chaparral and the price I was able to negotiate I am not upset just needs the work to be done. What I wanted was a good hull with a running good engine and a good drive.

This one needs a new transom assembly. When water is allowed to intrude in key parts of the boat Bad things are bound to happen. Like GImbal Bearings getting obliterated causing damage to key parts of the transom plate.

My brother and Dad are fully willing to get into this project with me. We are looking at it as a learning expierience.

We plan on doing some videos on Youtube and Rumble sharing the expierience here and on the Chaparral owners group forums as well.

We are already clearing out the Garage for the engine work that we are going to do. I joked with my brother that the good thing about pulling the engine is that she doesn't have to be winterized.

Indmar builds a good engine. I will probably look at making improvements, upgrades, and obviously the necessary repairs and replacements of everything we can where that is concerned as well.

Again making improvements to the engine bay smoothing things out and putting new gelcoat down. Boy was it dirty back there.

It is a great opportunity to make other improvements to her. hopefully by the beginning of next season we will have her ready for the water. We hope to make her a Boat we can enjoy for years to come.