Sterndrive Removed - Photos

[swcolorado]

2000 Volvo Penta SX-M Sterndrive

I removed my sterndrive the other day and everything seems to look fairly good. Please see the attached photos.

The exhaust bellows has 6 or 7 pinholes in it and leaks water so I will replace that.

There seems to be slight corrosion in the water pickup passage but it appears minor to me.

I have read the sterndrive manual from the link posted by Don. Thank you Don!

My question is do I need to clean out the grease in the u-joint bellows? Do I put a layer of grease on the housing where the u-joint is?

I did not see any type of gasket when I removed the sterndrive. The u-joints and gimbal bearings turn fine without any noise or roughness to them.

I know about replacing the o-ring on the water pickup and greasing the gimbal bearing and putting some molykote on the driveshaft and oil on the driveshaft o-rings. Anything else I'm missing other than changing the gear lubricant once I button it back up?

 

[Don S]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

Impossible to tell anything from the small pictures. The exhaust bellows can be gone and it won't hurt your engine or drive. The ujoint bellows is a different story. IF its' over 4 or 5 years old, replace it BEFORE it goes bad. It's a lot cheaper that way.

When you put in new gear lube, check it on the dipstick an hour after you put it in. DO NOT overfill. It will blow past the front seal and damage the seal.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

Never realized how similar that looks to a Cobra so close yet so far, some grease always seems to sling off the u-joint and build accumilate on the inside circumfrence of the bellows, I had some build up when i first pulled mine and just scooped it out with my finger and then a piece of rag.
A coating of grease on the external surface of the u-joints and driveshaft is what you want.
I'm pretty sure there's supposed to be a gasket between the drive and the gimble housing.

 

[Jeepster04]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

Will a 1990 DP-A outdrive look similar to those pictures? Why does everyone say the volvos use an intermediate bearing and not a gimbal bearing? Ive always heard that you must remove the entire outdrive but his pictures look just like a gimbal bearing to me. Just curious.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

Engine alignment should be verified.
There's supposed to be holes in the exhaust bellows.

 

[Fun Times]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

Never realized how similar that looks to a Cobra so close yet so far, some grease always seems to sling off the u-joint and build accumilate on the inside circumfrence of the bellows, I had some build up when i first pulled mine and just scooped it out with my finger and then a piece of rag.
A coating of grease on the external surface of the u-joints and driveshaft is what you want.
I'm pretty sure there's supposed to be a gasket between the drive and the gimble housing.

Hi a70eliminator; I just thought I should let you know that the Volvo SX drive only uses "O" rings there, No gasket's needed there.

 

[Don S]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

Will a 1990 DP-A outdrive look similar to those pictures? Why does everyone say the volvos use an intermediate bearing and not a gimbal bearing? Ive always heard that you must remove the entire outdrive but his pictures look just like a gimbal bearing to me. Just curious.

The DP-A drives look nothing like a DP-S drive. The DP-S drives like the OP pictures, looks like an OMC Cobra, not a Volvo.
Your drive does not have a gimbal bearing.
Start a new thread with your questions about your specific drive, don't try to equate your drive to every other Volvo and Mercruiser or OMC drive out there, as you have been doing lately, it just won't work.

 

[swcolorado]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

Engine alignment should be verified.
There's supposed to be holes in the exhaust bellows.

I have an alignment tool on the way and will verify the alignment.

I did notice when I was looking at buying a new exhaust bellows that the picture I was looking at appeared to show holes in the bottom of the bellows. That leads me to ask if it is normal to only see water coming out of the bellows and not out of the sterndrive back above the prop when running on muffs. Seeing water only coming out of the bellows and not out of the back of the sterndrive was what led me to think the bellows was bad. Sounds like it is not faulty now. One last note is that the drive was up quite a bit when I saw the water only coming out of the bellows.

 

[Maclin]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

The exhaust bellows have drain holes on the bottom as designed, yours is probably still fine for use.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

Ok got it, VP doesn't use a gasket. I personally would smear a light coat of triple guard grease or equivelant, on the machined surfaces after I cleaned them and checked for nicks.
I would also clean all that white powder corrosion and apply a very light coat of grease there too, my Cobra had corrosion in the same places, this year I was happy when I pulled the drive and a light coating of grease was still there and no white powder at all.
Water will come out the exhaust bellow and all around the transom when running on muffs, as Don said, you could operate the engine without it, I think cavitation may be the main problem, the bellow channels the exhaust out behind the prop, you wouldn't want bubbles in front of it.
FYI I sprayed a mist of LPS 3 inside which leaves behind a waxy coating that only comes off if you scrape it with your fingernail, it's good stuff. just don't overdo it.
Anyway that's what I do with mine and the results have been great for the past 3 seasons.

 

[Don S]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

All that grease inside the ujoint bellows is probably from the previous owner greasing the gimbal bearing, and never cleaning out the old grease. It keeps getting into the bellow area and gets smeared around by the spinning ujoints.
When you remove your drive yearly to check alignment, and grease the coupler splines, I always grease the gimbal bearing until new grease comes out of the bearing, turn it some and grease some more till it has all new grease. Then clean out the bellows area so it doesn't make a mess.
As eleminator stated, a little grease around the water port and a new oring will keep the corrosion down to a minimum, even on salt water boats.

As far as your exhaust bellows, the holes won't hurt if they are round holes, I don't recall VP exhaust bellows having holes in them. But if they are cracks in the bellows, they will get bigger and the bellows should be replaced.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

I take mine off every season to do the maintenance...if the drive has a seal leak (milky oil) I take it to the mechanic to get it resealed over the winter...the main thing with a stern drive is you don't want to see water in the driveshaft bellows (grease is OK as noted)...the holes in the exhaust bellows are OK...you want to feel a smooth turning gimble bearing (grease it and turn it with your fingers at the same time to feel if it's smooth)...and if those ujoints have grease fittings on em grease those too...finally grease the driveshaft splines and put some motor oil on those 2 O rings on the driveshaft before you put it all back together....the Volvo does not use a gasket between the pivot housing and the drive as the OMC Cobra does...
If you do this maintenance on a regular basis you will catch problems before they become bigger and in the long run you'll have a good running sterndrive that will last a LONG tie and be more reliable...sterndrives are high maintenance machines by their nature...if you don't do it they will cost you big time....

 

[tkrfxr]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

This is the cleanest outdrive I've ever seen...

Not a single barnacle, or chip of peeling antifouling paint...

...the blessings of a trailereable freshwater boat...

It looks great.

 

[swcolorado]

Re: Sterndrive Removed - Photos

This is the cleanest outdrive I've ever seen...

Not a single barnacle, or chip of peeling antifouling paint...

...the blessings of a trailereable freshwater boat...

It looks great.

Yes, it is a trailerable freshwater boat. To the best of my knowledge, it has never seen saltwater. 10 years old. Colorado boat.

Don, once I got a flashlight out, I could see that the holes in the exhaust bellows are perfectly round, equally spaced, and small (maybe 1/8" diameter) so they are obviously OEM holes.

Grease the gimbal bearing, turn it, regrease it, clean out the bellows. Will do. Thank you for the help. I also like the light coat of grease on the upper gear drive. I will do that as well.