mercruiser outdrive noise

mastercylinder63 · Dec 15, 2010

Greetings, I have a 99 Bayliner with a 5.7 mercruiser and Alpha one/ gen II stern drive. When the boat is in gear, I hear a a clattering noise coming from the back of the boat. it doesn't matter if I'm going straight or turning. Before you answer that question, I'll give you the history what I did before the boating season. The trim wasn't working, so I noticed that the trim switch wires were shot. While I had everything apart, I figured I'd change the bellows for the hell of it. Prior to my changing these parts there were no issues with noises. When i pulled the boat out towards the end of the season, I pulled the outdrive. There was some water in the ujoint bellow. I thought the clanking noise that i hearing was from a dislodged metal ring of the ujoint bellow rubbing against the ujoint, but the ring was still in it's proper place. The ujoint seems to be tight with no play. I wonder what did I do wrong, perhaps I didn't use enough bellow glue! And as far as the noise, Is it a bad Gimbal Bearing??
Thanks

Don S · Dec 15, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

Did you check the gimbal bearing? if you boat in salt water, and had water in the bellows, the ujoints may be tight due to rust.

mastercylinder63 · Dec 15, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

thanks 4 the quick response. The boat is used in salt water. The ujoint has plenty of greese inside the cups and there was a light coating of greese on outside from when I installed it. So there's no rust on the ujoint itself and appears to be in great condition. When I inspected the Gimbal Bearing, it spins, but doesn't seem to spin effortlessly, it seems to be a little friction. I have nothing to compare it to other then a car wheel bearing.

bruceb58 · Dec 15, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

Did you lube the gimbal bearing? Did you check alignment of the gimbal bearing before you replaced your drive? Can you run it on muffs to determine where the noise is exactly coming from?

mastercylinder63 · Dec 15, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

Yes the Gimbal bearing was greased when I first installed the drive. As far as Gimbal alignment I'm not sure how to do this. I followed the mercruiser factory manual on bellow dissasembly and installation. I lined up the splines when I installed the drive shaft and checked if the prop was in gear and then in neutral and then in reverse. The factory manual tells you what to do, but not how to do it. Being a car and motorcycle rebuilder, I figured it should be an easy transition. I guess not!!!

starsnstripers · Dec 17, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

Is that in gear at an idle? Does it go away with a little throttle (rpm) advance?

dubs283 · Dec 17, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

if you didn't replace the gimbal bearing i wouldn't worry too much about the alignment

seeing as you did replace the u-joint bellows i would be concerned about the intallation as you have water in it

also, did you use a drive gasket install kit when installing the drive??

are the gasket and 4" quad ring intact??

any noise from the drive/transom area after repair with no noise issues prior to repair would lead me to believe that the repair or drive install had a failure

bruceb58 · Dec 17, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

dubs283 said:
if you didn't replace the gimbal bearing i wouldn't worry too much about the alignment

Oh really!

You are supposed to check the alignment annually. Actually, has little to do with the gimbal bearing and everything with the engine mounts on the stringers.

dubs283 · Dec 18, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

bruceb58 said:
Oh really!

You are supposed to check the alignment annually. Actually, has little to do with the gimbal bearing and everything with the engine mounts on the stringers.

yep...really

if the gimbal bearing is out of alignment, you will NEVER get the drive on...ever

i seriously doubt the engine became misaligned between the time he had the drive off to when it was re-installed, seeing as how the noise only became present after the repair

so yeah, i REALLY wouldn't worry about the alignment being off

havasuboatman · Dec 18, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

Oh, you can install a drive that isn't properly aligned. When you do, you get noise from the back of the boat. If his engine was already out of alignment and being run that way he may very well have coupler issues.
I check engine alignment every time I take a drive off. It's just foolish not to. Boats take a pounding, things move, shift, and settle.
You need to know your drive is aligned or anything else you do the find that noise is a waste of time.
By the way, the gimble bearing should be kinda snug feeling. What you want to feel for is any, and I mean even the slightest, roughness as you rotate it.
If the noise you are hearing is a growling, replace the gimble bearing. Actually, have it done.

Bondo · Dec 18, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

I check engine alignment every time I take a drive off. It's just foolish not to. Boats take a pounding, things move, shift, and settle.

Ayuh,... Good to see ya Dave,... I gotta Agree,...

If you're gonna even considerin' calling yourself a boat Mechanic,... Even a DIY'er boat Mechanic...

An Alignment Bar should be the very 1st "Specialized" tool ya buy,... Or build....

I figured it should be an easy transition. I guess not!!!

Sure it is,... Just another Book or 2, 'n somemore Tools.....

havasuboatman · Dec 19, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

Getting the engine aligned can be difficult for people that have never done it, or do it rarely. There is a lot of "feel" involved for getting it just right.
And don't let ANYBODY tell you there is something called the "Mercruiser kick".
If you can't push the drive all the way in, you are not correctly aligned or there is another problem.

bruceb58 · Dec 19, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

dubs283 said:
yep...really

if the gimbal bearing is out of alignment, you will NEVER get the drive on...ever

You can get the drive on. You will also eventually destroy the coupler if the alignment is out. Just takes a little bit of being out to destroy the coupler.

Advice that Dubs gave is BAD advice and should not be followed.

dubs283 · Dec 21, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

bruceb58 said:
You can get the drive on. You will also eventually destroy the coupler if the alignment is out. Just takes a little bit of being out to destroy the coupler.

Advice that Dubs gave is BAD advice and should not be followed.

so...when YOU install a new gimbal bearing and don't align it with the coupler, you can get the drive on??

hmm...magic i guess

try this, take off a merc drive, slide the alignment bar into the gimbal bearing ONLY, do not fully seat it into the coupler

then move the bar slightly in any direction (up, down, side to side), this will tweak the gimbal bearing slightly thus misaligning it with the coupler

now, try to install the drive...if you can get it on without realigning the bearing, you are a magician

if you read my previous post again you will see i never advised anyone to not check the ENGINE alignment, i merely stated that if the OP got the drive back on that the GIMBAL BEARING was not misaligned and that i doubted the engine aligment changed in between their pulling the drive and re-installing it

bruceb58 · Dec 21, 2010

Re: mercruiser outdrive noise

dubs283 said:
if you read my previous post again you will see i never advised anyone to not check the ENGINE alignment, i merely stated that if the OP got the drive back on that the GIMBAL BEARING was not misaligned and that i doubted the engine aligment changed in between their pulling the drive and re-installing it

Checking the alignment of the gimbal bearing is not just checking if the gimbal bearing rocked in it carrier. Checking the gimbal alignment means checking the alignment between the gimbal bearing and the engine coupler. In order to get the engine coupler in alignment with the coupler, it is necessary to adjust the front of the engine. If you engine/ gimbal bearing alignment is slightly out, you can still get the drive on but you will be wearing out your coupler.

I read your previous post and your advice is still incorrect. Whenever you pull the drive, you ALWAYS check the alignment.

mercruiser outdrive noise

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