Vibration when turning with new U joints and new gimble bearing

criscolumbus

Cadet
Joined
Jul 8, 2018
Messages
28
Running out of ideas here.


Have a 2003 VIP 1886 Vision with a Volvo Penta GL4.3 - SX-M setup.

First run this season ran 10 min or so and did not notice anything out of the ordinary. then Fairly abruptly as I remember it, something sorta shuttered in a turn and started vibrating. Vibration continued fairly prominently when turning and even made some noise when running strait.

Sounded to be in the drive shaft system so took it easy and headed home.

Removed the drive and found the u joints in good condition. No play, no roughness, no binding in any direction on any of the joints.

reached in and spun the gimble bearing and it defiantly had a rough sound so replaced it with a new bearing.

Re installed the drive and took it back to the lake. The vibration was muted some but still excessive and only made noise when turning or when trimmed excessively high.

Took it home again removed the drive and even though the joints felt fine, I replaced them with new u joints. This is the style drive that Volvo lists with only the shaft assembly and not just the u joint. So I measured and sourced some u joints locally. Also inspected the upper gearbox input yoke and the input bearing feels smooth when turning and there is no evidence of slack.

Re installed the drive and took it too the lake again with new u joints and new gimble bearing. this time was still the same result. smooth operation when running strait to moderate turning but anything more than about 1/2 of the turn stroke and it starts vibrating.

took the boat home and pulled the drive again. inspected u joints and gimble bearing again and they seem excellent.

Inserted an alignment shaft in bearing and engine seemed to be out of align with the front of engine needing to move horizontally to the left. made engine mount adjustments to re-align engine and re-installed drive. The same vibration was still present when turning.

At this point the only thing I can think of is the 2 o rings on the shaft that ride in the gimble bearing have not been changed and the newly installed u joints are the local parts store brand B and P metric series 4 u joint which fit perfect.

Could the o rings be a problem letting the shaft slightly knock around in the bearing? Could the new "cheap" u joints simply rattle when new?

I understand that Volvo balances the assembly and due to changing the joints, it may no longer be balanced but that would cause a vibration when running strait and turning so I have ruled out an out of balance drive shaft. also the turning vibration is evident even at idle in gear when turning but not present when in neutral with no load.
 
Last edited:

muc

"Retired" Association of Marine Technicians...
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
2,064
Replace those 2 o rings. They can cause the noise your hearing.
 

criscolumbus

Cadet
Joined
Jul 8, 2018
Messages
28
Well, pulled the drive again and the new u joints had a fair amount of lateral play in them. I didn't measure them but estimate around 0.050". It seams the GNK style yoke takes the specific GNK u joint. I was able to make it run smooth by shimming the bearing cups under the c clips. Next time I will just order the GNK u joints.
 
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