Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

[Pike Preacher]

I am replacing the transom on my 23 ft Sea Ray and have the entire gimbal ring/ transom plate removed exposing just the ROTTEN KEY HOLE.

I wondering if now is a good time to replace the gimbal bearing, bellows and shift shaft or should I want till I mount it back on the boat?

My sterring has a lot of play in it. Before I put the boat back together I would think it would make sence to try to fix the slop in the steering but all the manuals give direction with these items still mounted on the boat and to drill holes in the gimbal ring.

As I said i have completly removed the Engine transom plate and gimbal ring and have axcess to it now. just wondering what should be repleced while it is off the boat and I have alot of down time.

I have a few more questions regarding the rusted bolts on my transom plate. but I think I have to start a new thread.

Greg
Racine WI

 

[Grub54891]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

Ya have it off,fix it now. Easy access is to be had right now. The reason it's drilled when mounted,you cannot access the nut on the top. Plus you dont have to buy the plug kit,save a few bucks.
Grub

 

[Bondo]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

Ya have it off,fix it now. Easy access is to be had right now. The reason it's drilled when mounted,you cannot access the nut on the top. Plus you dont have to buy the plug kit,save a few bucks.
Grub

Ayuh,.... Unless ya pull the motor,.... then it's pretty easy to get at,...

I'm of the notion to reinstall the complete assembly, 'n do the rebuild of it then,....

The only Upside is,... Ya don't have to chase it all over the bench, tryin' to break those big nuts free,...

 

[Grub54891]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

Bondo's right also,it can be un-assembled when mounted,I did mine on the bench,but I had a bench dog to keep it in place.

 

[Pike Preacher]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

thanks guys I am thinking I will do the shift cable bellows and gimbal bearing and tighten up the steering while it is off the boat.

WHile I have the mnotor out and everythis removed is there any thing else I should up date or look at before i start putting it back together?

 

[Pike Preacher]

Transom gimbal housing unit BOLTS

Transom gimbal housing unit BOLTS

The Transom gimbal housing unit has 6 stud bolts that go through the transom ( key Hole) and through the inner transom plate and it gets sandwiched together with Locknuts and washers. There are 2 at the top and 2 in the middle and 2 on the bottom. My 2 bottom studs are very rusted in the middle due to a rotten transom. Are the studs removable if so how? and where do i find replacments?

Greg
Racine wi

 

[Bondo]

Re: Transom gimbal housing unit BOLTS

Re: Transom gimbal housing unit BOLTS

The Transom gimbal housing unit has 6 stud bolts that go through the transom ( key Hole) and through the inner transom plate and it gets sandwiched together with Locknuts and washers. There are 2 at the top and 2 in the middle and 2 on the bottom. My 2 bottom studs are very rusted in the middle due to a rotten transom. Are the studs removable if so how? and where do i find replacments?

Greg
Racine wi

Ayuh,.... They're Studs, threaded on both ends,....

I suggest gettin' the new 1s directly from Mercruiser,...

The very bottom 2 are aluminum, 'n only available from Mercruiser,...

'n don't keep startin' new threads,...
This is All the same subject,...

 

[Pike Preacher]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

Thanks Bondo for the info I did not know if I could ask another question I thought it was a different subject I had to start a new thread I did not know I could HI jack my own thread.

So how do i remove the bolts will they just turn out do i need to heat them up?

WHile I have the motor out and everything is removed is there any thing else I should up date or look at before i start putting it back together?

 

[Pike Preacher]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

Not sure if I need to start a new question on this but where my Y pipe has 4 holes for bolting and where it meets my transom plate they only used 3 bolts to hold the y pipe on. After looking more closly it looks like the Factory used the wrong transom plate cuz there is only 3 holes in my transom plate and i have 4 holes in my y pipe... this caused my boat to leak at the Y pipe and cused my transom to ROT... when I pulled the engine I could clearly see that one bolt was missing and I would have found the bolt rolling around in the bilge had it fallen out during normal operation... I wonder if the factory used the wrornd transom plate?

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

There is a difference between the bolt patterns for a Y pipe and a single pipe. The fourth bolt will not line up if you do not have the correct transom assembly. As incredible as it sounds, that is an approved practice by Mercruiser. My Sportcraft had that same situation and I contacted Mercruiser directly several years ago - they said to simply use three bolts. (Although if memory serves... isn't there a fifth bolt hidden in the middle?)

http://forums.iboats.com/mercruiser-i-o-inboard-engines-outdrives/mercruiser-y-pipe-282114.html

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

This illustrates what I am talking about. (I removed this transom assembly from my 242 Sportcraft which came from the factory with this assembly - and a Chevy small block with Y pipe).

 

[Pike Preacher]

Re: Gimbal ring transom plate removed should I fix it now or wait?

I will go and take another look... Thanks.