upper drive hard to turn after re-assembly

[tejastoolman]

alpha 1 gen 2 unit off a 3.0 merc...

put in all new seals, ujoints, cleaned everything in the upper to make sure it's contaminant free, lubed the bearings, yoke seal with the merc lube per the manual, rolling torque per the manual, had to try it 3 times to make sure I was doing it right, torqued on the bearing spanner nut. Then I noticed the drive shaft is really hard to turn using a bar thru the ujoint area. so I took it back down reassembled & torqued again and still seems really hard to turn, that's gotta take some hp from my little 4 banger...

reassembly.jpgreassembly.jpg

?#1 is this normal or should it turn free/smooth like a differential on a std size pick up?

(even though the photo show it setting on a cluttered work bench)

seems like it should be much more free turning by hand atleast some and not have to use a bar, but could be wrong you tube didn't have much that I could find so I had to come to the pro's here

[dollarten]

alpha 1 gen 2 unit off a 3.0 merc...

put in all new seals, ujoints, cleaned everything in the upper to make sure it's contaminant free, lubed the bearings, yoke seal with the merc lube per the manual, rolling torque per the manual, had to try it 3 times to make sure I was doing it right, torqued on the bearing spanner nut. Then I noticed the drive shaft is really hard to turn using a bar thru the ujoint area. so I took it back down reassembled & torqued again and still seems really hard to turn, that's gotta take some hp from my little 4 banger...

reassembly.jpgreassembly.jpg

?#1 is this normal or should it turn free/smooth like a differential on a std size pick up?

(even though the photo show it setting on a cluttered work bench)

seems like it should be much more free turning by hand atleast some and not have to use a bar, but could be wrong you tube didn't have much that I could find so I had to come to the pro's here

If you did not have your bearing races out of the upper gear housing , you are probaly OK there . There is also some shims that go in the gear housing before you put in the drive shaft assy. in . If the shims got mispalced the drive shaft wil have a lot of resistance because the gers no longer have any clearance . Be for you put the upper brg assy. in , were you able to rotate the bearing assy ? The nut on the end of the bearing set has to be torgued to 85 foot ponds and the bearing set should be able to turn easy before you install it

[tejastoolman]

yeah I left the shims in the upper case didn't take the bearings apart but I did put on a new yoke seal which has a dust lip & oil lip... 85 ft lbs? I must read something wrong because I'm using 6-10 ft rolling lbs of torque with an older style non clicking torque wrench.. the bearing set does turn pretty free even with the merc drive oil coated on them but after installing it in the housing thats where I'm off then..


ok cool thanks... back out in the garage I go

[Pete104]

Are you working on this OFF of the gear housing? I think your trying to turn the water pump & not realising it.

[tejastoolman]

yes the cases are separated as in the photo I added, the lower gear housing was fine I'm only working on the upper part which needed a new yoke seal, & u joints since I was thus far along in the process

[PBarrett]

yeah I left the shims in the upper case didn't take the bearings apart but I did put on a new yoke seal which has a dust lip & oil lip... 85 ft lbs? I must read something wrong because I'm using 6-10 ft rolling lbs of torque with an older style non clicking torque wrench.. the bearing set does turn pretty free even with the merc drive oil coated on them but after installing it in the housing thats where I'm off then..


ok cool thanks... back out in the garage I go

According to Mercruiser Service Manual #14....New bearings, torque to 8 inch pounds. Old bearings, torque to 5.5 inch pounds. Yes, it is ROLLING TORQUE. Hold the bearings, turn the pinion nut two full revolutions and check the preload on the third revolution. If the ROLLING TORQUE exceeds the recommended torque, separate the gear and start over. If it's less, tighten it down a little more and test again. I just did mine about a month ago and this process took about an hour to get right. And yes, mine was a little tight to turn over too. My Clymer Book said 70 to 80 lbs of torque too, but I knew that was not going to work. Download Service Manual #14.

Good luck,
Pat

[dollarten]

According to Mercruiser Service Manual #14....New bearings, torque to 8 inch pounds. Old bearings, torque to 5.5 inch pounds. Yes, it is ROLLING TORQUE. Hold the bearings, turn the pinion nut two full revolutions and check the preload on the third revolution. If the ROLLING TORQUE exceeds the recommended torque, separate the gear and start over. If it's less, tighten it down a little more and test again. I just did mine about a month ago and this process took about an hour to get right. And yes, mine was a little tight to turn over too. My Clymer Book said 70 to 80 lbs of torque too, but I knew that was not going to work. Download Service Manual #14.

Good luck,
Pat

The 85 foot lbs. of torque is for the nut on the end of the drive shaft . This sets a predetermined pre load on the drive shaft assy. that plugs into the engine The rolling torque is for the shaft that is under the four bolts that hold the top cover on the upper gear housing

[fishrdan]

I'm using 6-10 ft rolling lbs of torque with an older style non clicking torque wrench..

New bearings, torque to 8 inch pounds. Old bearings, torque to 5.5 inch pounds.

ft lbs / inch lbs...

Sound like that could be the problem.

[tejastoolman]

it was all done in inch lbs........... I have a habit of typing ft lbs.... yes I've had manual #14 printed off for many months and read these areas thoroughly.. I've done this right checked it 5 times, but still seems really tight... even 1 ton truck diff's are not this tight as I've re-built many when I was an off roader...

what I'm asking is those that have done this, on this exact model of drive did it still seem tight when rotating the yoke/drive shaft AFTER you put the top cap on an torqued it correctly with-out the lower portion attached?

[PBarrett]

what I'm asking is those that have done this, on this exact model of drive did it still seem tight when rotating the yoke/drive shaft AFTER you put the top cap on an torqued it correctly with-out the lower portion attached?

As I stated, mine was rather tight too. I think it has to do with the number of seals and o-rings in the drive. Also, remember that you are turning the shaft, and you only have a 1.62 to 1 ratio, as opposed to a rear end ratio of probably 4 to 1. I have about 200 miles on mine since the rebuild and it seems to be fine.

Pat

[dollarten]

As I stated, mine was rather tight too. I think it has to do with the number of seals and o-rings in the drive. Also, remember that you are turning the shaft, and you only have a 1.62 to 1 ratio, as opposed to a rear end ratio of probably 4 to 1. I have about 200 miles on mine since the rebuild and it seems to be fine.

Pat

All said and done , you should be able to turn the driveshaft / U joint assy. by hand with little difficulty I remember seting these up with the shimming tools that were offered by Mercury back when I worked on them > This procedure had to be used in order to keep the unit running quiet so you would not here gear whine when underway

[tejastoolman]

All said and done , you should be able to turn the driveshaft / U joint assy. by hand with little difficulty I remember seting these up with the shimming tools that were offered by Mercury back when I worked on them > This procedure had to be used in order to keep the unit running quiet so you would not here gear whine when underway

ok sounds good guys, thanks for making it more understanble then.... trying to do it right on my 1st DIY R&R

[tejastoolman]

assembled last night, got up today no external leaks! woo hoo so I'm off to the lake for a float test before it hits 100+ shortly

[tejastoolman]

been out 3 times, not one problem since reassembly! Actually seems to drive so much more quiet too, new gimbal & ujoints made a huge difference for sure.

Thank you all for the posted information on diy's etc. Saved me a ton of beer money