Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

I have a '97 Larson with a Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 drive.

I removed the drive and replaced the steering bushings this spring. During reassembly, I unknowingly damaged the ujoint bellows. The boat first ran fine, but after about 85 gallons of gas (no hour meter) began to make a rumble during turns. Going straight and trimmed up a bit, the boat is quiet.

I decided to remove the drive and investigate the u joints. During drive removal, I discovered a significant amount of river water in the u joint bellows section and that I had slightly torn the bellows during reassembly.

The ujoints do not seem crunchy/sticky, but feel smooth. Maybe this is because the weight of the fork/intermediate sections are hiding the wear that was causing the rumble?

At this point, I think I should replace the ujoints, drive oil, bellow, and bellow hose clamps. It looks like the drive side ujoint does not have clearance to remove without removing the ujoint from the double bearing box. The workshop manual seems to suggest that it has to all be taken apart to replace the ujoints. Is this true?

If so, it looks like I need to also replace the 854201 screw, 853484 Pretensioning sleeve, 839253 sealing ring, and the 956000 Oring?

Lastly, I read that the u joint cross refference is a precision 344. Can you confirm that I have that right?

Thanks so much,
Bradley Price

Re: Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

I just talked to a boat mechanic. He seems to think that the "Gimbal bearing" is the most likely failed part. Does this make sense? The ujoints and drive all seem to be very smooth, so maybe the rumble is coming from the gimbal bearing? How does one check the "gimbal bearing"?

THANKS!!
Brad

Re: Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

Edit: bad info...

Re: Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

Before buying a gimbal bearing and alignment bar, better make sure your drive has a gimbal bearing

The DPA thru C's do not have one, they are like the 290 drives.

Water intrusion into the drive bellows can get into the bearing(s) in the driveshaft housing and those can rattle around when they are compromised but do not usually groan. The sound you describe sounds like ujoints, or maybe other grease points need some more grease.

Re: Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

Maclin said:

Water intrusion into the drive bellows can get into the bearing(s) in the driveshaft housing and those can rattle around when they are compromised but do not usually groan. The sound you describe sounds like ujoints, or maybe other grease points need some more grease.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much!
After reading your response, I also found this thread...
http://forums.iboats.com/volvo-pent...ive-id-gimble-bearing-replacement-576261.html

Do you know if I have the single bearing or two bearing setup?
If I have the two bearing setup, do you think I can get to the plug/zerk to pump more grease in there? If not, should I just replace the ujoints and see if that fixes the problem?

You mentioned, "other grease points may need more grease." The only grease point I can see is at the tiller arm, but I dont think this is what you are reffering to, any other ideas?

THANKS!!!!!!!!
Brad

Re: Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

The zerk on the bell housing inside the boat is one grease point I was referring to, it is a regular maintenance item. There is another on the outside of the drive on the horizontal bar on the front of the drive where the trim actuator arm connects for the up-down pivot action of the drive, it may or may not make a difference on the left-right groaning.

Re: Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

The Dp-C1 outdrive does not does not have a grease point for it PDS bearing as the assembly uses a sealed bearing.

There is an easy way to tell if water had gotten by the seal protecting the PDS assembly. On the fork the slides over the Primary Drive Shaft you will see corrosion from the water intrusion. The corrosion should stop about one inch or so from the splined fork. If so, the seal did it's job and prevented water from entering.

When I rebuild the uppers after water intrusion via bellow, I also find that the sealing washer needs to be replaced as it gets pitted. You may have caught it in time though if water has not incorporated into the bellow for an extended amount of time.

As for the u-joints, do not use the precisions. First they are over sized and takes to much force to get them in and then on top of that that clips are too thick and thinner ones have to be purchased.

Can get the proper U-joint (Spider) on Ebay for $79 each compared to $160 from Volvo and $119 from Sierra.
• • Spider 854619
Replaced by
3860232
2

$159.51

Re: Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

FORGOT to add that any damage what so ever to the props, really affects these drives. You especially feel it when you turn hard and you will get a rumble of sort.

Even a tiny little chip, that a majority of people wouldn't blink at, throws the prop out of balance.

Re: Volvo Penta DP-C1 1.95 - ujoints

Ugh! This is frustrating.

Props
I don't think it is the props because of the way the conditioned seemed to progressivly deteriorate. First a little bit of a rumble, like "is there something wrong?" Then worse, "I think the boat is broke." Then worse, "yeah, its broke, try not to use power on turns, it sounds bad". I do plan on sending them out over the winter to be refinished.

ujoints
They really seem smooth, no crunchy, no play. I guess I will take the spiders out of the assembly and inspect them closely. But if they seem fine, I plan to regrease them and put them back in! Too bad it will cost me about $60 for the new 839253 seal and 853484 pretensioning sleeve. I couldn't find a new 854201 screw, so hopefully reusing the old one is not a problem.

PDS Bearing
There just seems to be no way of checking the integrity of this bearing without removing the engine? The drive shaft can be pushed in/pulled out about 1/8". And there is some side to side play as well. But again, I dont know what "right" feels like, so I dont know if this is bad. I will check for corosion on the fork section that is past the PDS seal.

I am really starting to think it is the PDS bearing. I just really dont want to get the whole shabang all apart and then find a PDS bearing that seems fine.