Gimbal bearing question

[nickmo]

5.0 Mercruiser Alpha 1 Gen 2

In May of this year before splashing the boat, I did new bellows, shift cable and gimbal bearing. These were all done as preventitive maintenance. There was no water intrusion. The shift cable was OEM. The bellows kit and gimbal bearing was not. Here we are in late Aug. and I'm hearing a growling noise upon start up. I'm thinking the gimbal bearing. Is it possible to go that quick?

 

[Alumarine]

It's possible but unlikely if you aligned it properly when you installed it.
It's always possible to get a defective one I suppose.
Does the growling go away? How were the ujoints?

 

[nickmo]

It does get a bit better as you run it. The u joints were good.

 

[biggjimm]

Did you check the alignment of the drive & engine when you had it apart?
The only bad gimbal bearing I ever fooled with, growled like crazy when you turned the steering wheel & put pressure on the bearing???