Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

[gator fan josh]

I bought a 2000 Four Winns Horizon last year that had a blown head gasket. After three head gaskets finding that the timing module and pick-up coil in the distributor where bad, the final thing I had left was to change the bellows and replace the gimbal bearing. I decided to document it the best I could so that maybe I could help someone who plans on doing this. There have been a lot of people helping me from the forum so I figured if I could help one person it would be my good deed.

Here is the thread describing my Head gasket problem.
http://forums.iboats.com/volvo-pent...-3-0-gs-keeps-blowing-head-gasket-607451.html

My setup:
2000 Volvo Penta 3.0GSPEFS
Volvo Penta SX-M 2.16 outdrive

The first step was to remove the drive, I followed these instructions. That are in the in the stickies. I also drained the gear oil.
View attachment 202196
Remove the three bolts on the cover of the shift linkage. Them remove the cotterpin and unscrew the cable end from the shift cable.


Next turn the outdrive to port and you can access the shift cable retainer, I removed the retainer completely but I think you could just loosen it.


I then figured out how I was going to support the outdrive while I pulled it off since I was by myself. I used a motorcycle jack that I clamped a 2x4 screwed to a 2x6 to create some sort of "forks." It actually worked alot better than I thought it would, and being able to adjust the height came in handy when reinstalling.


Now the Trim rams can be removed, I just followed the instructions in the pdf. it is pretty straight forward.

Now the drive can be pulled away from the boat. just remove the 6 nuts and it should slide away. I was able to pull the drive only about an inch away. The shaft was then stuck in the gimbal bearing and no matter how much I pulled I could not get it to come free. To get it off i hooked the trim rams up again and pushed down on the trim switch which extended the cylinders and freed the outdrive from the gimbal bearing. The out-drive then slid away from the boat easily.

I then got my first look at the gimbal bearing and I was surprised since I didn't think the leak was that bad.

I wanted to check my alignment before removing the old bearing and was greatly surprised how nice the alignment bar slid in and all the grease marks were even all the way around. This did give me a chance to really see how bad the bearing really was. Here is a video of me turning the alignment bar.

Now it was time for the real work, I started with the exhaust bellows; the hose clamp was easy to get to with a long screwdriver when I had the drive turned all the way to port. I then started to wrestle with the huge snap ring on the pivot housing side of the bellows, I finally gave up and just cut the bellows with a knife and removed most of it towards the bottom of the pivot housing. Then I could push the bellows with the snap ring out from behind the pivot housing. Then I removed the plastic nut from the water tube. The plastic nut is really big, the biggest socket I had was a 1-1/8" socket and it wasn't big enough. Even a 12" Cresent wrench wasn't big enough. I had a craftsman adjustable box end wrench and it luckily was barely big enough. You can see the water hose is this picture, removing the nut allowed me to pivot the housing further up giving me access to the u-joint bellows easily.


The u-joint bellows actually came out a lot easier than the exhaust bellows. The hose clamp was easy to reach and once it was loosened it was jut a matter of rolling the front lip out of the pivot housing and pulling the bellows out through the bottom of the pivot housing.

Continued below

 

[gator fan josh]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

Here is a picture of both bellows removed


This a where the u-joint bellows failed


The only thing left to remove was the gimbal bearing, Here is a shot of the gimbal bearing without the bellows installed. You can see how nasty it was


I rented a 3 jaw slide hammer from Auto Zone and it was beat to death. Id did work and really didn't take too much to remove the bearing. Once i got the jaws adjusted just right and gripping on the inside of the bearing I would probably say five good whacks with the slide hammer and it came right out.


No wonder the bearing was making so much noise.


Next: Installing the new bearing and putting it all back together.

 

[gator fan josh]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

To install the bearing I put it in the freezer for a few days before the install, I'm not sure how much this helped but I figured it couldn't hurt. I also bought a 2' piece of 3" PVC pipe to drive the bearing in. I checked the end of it with a framing square and the end cut was slightly off from the factory. I squared it up with a miter saw and it was nice and square.

I got a sierra bearing so it had a grease hole on the side so I lined up the tolerance ring with the hole and marked the front of the bearing where the opening was so I could easily line the hole up with the black grease tube coming from the grease fitting.

I cleaned up all the old grease where the old bearing was and slid the new bearing in, making sure the marks I made on the front of the bearing were lined up with the grease tube. Then followed that with the pvc tube. I held a 2x4 on the end of the pipe and started driving the bearing in using a 2lb sledge hammer. I would stop ever 5-10 wacks and check that the bearing was going in straight. It took quite a few hits and I made sure to not get in a hurry. I could tell when the bearing was fully seated because the sound the hammer made changed and the board stopped bouncing when i hit it with the hammer. I made sure it was fully seated buy feeling the back of the bearing through the hole in the middle. Sorry i dont have any picture driving the bearing in but I had my hands full. Here is a picture of the new bearing fully seated.

Now that the bearing was installed I reinserted the alignment tool and gave it a medium wack with a rubber mallet in all four directions up, down, left and right. This lines your bearing up with the coupler.

I then checked engine alignment again and it was good with even grease marks all the way around the alignment tool. Followed that by removing the tool and filling the new bearing with marine grease until I could see it coming out around the bearing. And the gimbal bearing was done!


Next was the u-joint bellows. I started with the end closest to the gimbal bearing, it slid on easily using one hand on the inside of the bellows working around pushing it on. I then tightened the new hose clamp positioning the screw in the same location it was when I removed the old one. The side that mounted to the pivot housing was a little harder and it just took patience working around tucking the lip in around until there where no flat spots. Overall it went it without a hitch.


Next was the exhaust bellows I did have to use a little silicone spray on the end with the hose clamp to get it to slide on since my hand was too big to push from the inside. The silicone lubricated made the bellows slide on very easily. I then reattached the water hose nut and inserted the exhaust bellows into the pivot housing. Then the wrestling match with the snap ring began again. In hindsight I would have bought a large set of compressing snap ring pliers since I only had a smaller standard set. But since the boat was hooked to my truck I was too stubborn to leave and go get some. I eventually got it installed using a flat blade screwdriver and working my way around a few times. One thing to note. My OEM exhaust bellows had small holes in it to drain the water out the Sierra replacement bellows had large slits cut in it all the way down. Here is a side by side comparison.


Both bellows installed and ready for the outdrive, the kit I ordered included a new o-ring to go around the water hose so I put some grease on it and installed it.


Here is the PITA snap ring in the exhaust bellows

 

[gator fan josh]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

Now the u-joints: They had surface rust on them and plan on replacing them this winter, I greased both of them and alot of black water came out. I know these need to be replaced but didn't have the u-joints or a tool to remove them. Once they had new grease they were actually very smooth and had very little side to side play. I was glad my u-joints had the zerk in the middle so that they could be greased. I am confidant they will last the three more months of this season without doing any damage. I then replaced the two o-rings on the shaft and lubricated them with oil and not grease like the installation instructions called for. I then applied grease to the splines and the outdrive was ready to be reinstalled.


The kit also came with a thin paper gasket that looked like it went between the outdrive leg and the pivot housing. I did not use it however since there wasn't one on there when I removed the drive and It looked like it didn't fit because there was a strip that went right over the hole that had the shift cable in it.


I was now ready to reinstall the out drive and I don't have any pictures of this since it was exactly the same as removing the drive except in reverse. Just be sure to install your shift cable in the hole in the out drive before you get it too close to the pivot housing. My out drive slid on very easily and I torqued the 6 nuts following the procedure in the drive removal pdf. I did find that threading the shift cable end was easier when i twisted the shifter manually into reverse giving my plenty of room to twist on the end. I twisted it on about half way and shifted the drive into neutral to line up the final adjustment. Dont forget your shift cable retainer when you get the cable on. You have to keep alot of pressure on the little plate that slides in and out to make sure it holds good on the cable. Then just reinstall the shift linkage cover and fill your out drive from the drain hole and you are done!:clap2:

Hope this helps anyone thinking about doing this and it really went al ot better than I thought. The only thing that fought my was the darn snap ring on the exhaust bellows so that wasn't too bad. Probably took me a solid 6 hours including setting up the out drive jack. I did notice that the new exhaust bellows is quite a bit louder than the one I removed but it actually sounds good on the little four cylinder
( never thought I would say that:lol
Thanks to all on the forum who contributed to the research I did before the install.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

For future reference, if the exhaust bellows isn't ripped, don't bother with it. It isn't critical enough to worry about.

I only use Volvo OEM bellows. Not a fan of aftermarket ones.

That gasket that came with your kit was for an OMC drive.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

For future reference, if the exhaust bellows isn't ripped, don't bother with it. It isn't critical enough to worry about.

I only use Volvo OEM bellows. Not a fan of aftermarket ones.

That gasket that came with your kit was for an OMC drive.

 

[gator fan josh]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

Agreed, however you have to remove it in order to access your u-joint bellows and mine was so dry rotted the end ripped off with only a slight tug.

I was actually impressed with the Sierra bellows seemed to be good quality, I wanted a Sierra gimbal bearing so I could get one with a grease fitting and not one of the sealed "maintenance free" VP ones. I just like the piece of mind knowing the grease is fresh in there.

To each his own though.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

Agreed, however you have to remove it in order to access your u-joint bellows

Since when? I change mine all the time without removing it. I do remove the 2 bolts from the pivot housing but that is super easy compared to messing with the exhaust bellows and the water intake hose. Yes, don't have to take that off either. You did replace the round o-ring for the water intake nipple right? If you take that off, you need to replace it. Didn't see you mention that. Potential air leak if you don't replace that o-ring.

I have heard of too many Sierra bellows failing prematurely to use them. An OEM bellows is not much
money.

I do agree with you on the gimbal bearing being greasable.

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

I was actually impressed with the Sierra bellows seemed to be good quality,

I have had the Sierra bellows leak where the drive pushes up against them. To short? I don't know, but the OEM bellows don't have that problem.

 

[gator fan josh]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

I have had the Sierra bellows leak where the drive pushes up against them. To short? I don't know,

I will keep an eye out for that, thanks for the tip.

I do remove the 2 bolts from the pivot housing

Didn't have the tool to remove those bolts. That is also another way to skin the cat.

Cheers

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

Didn't have the tool to remove those bolts.

1/2" hex wrench is all that is needed. Or I use one of these:

The instructions that come with the Volvo OEM bellows also describes removing the bolts for the pivot housing.

 

[DCinVA]

Re: Volvo Penta SX-M Bellows and Gimbal Bearing Install Step-By-Step

Awesome post. It is great to see people taking the time to share their experience.

 

[bruceb58]

Great post, this helps me a ton as I will start this in a few weeks.

Did you replace the 6 nuts that hold the outdrive to the transom? If so, do you have a part number?
Did you also replace the rear seal behind the gimble bearing? I've heard that is impossible to get out.

No need to replace the nuts every time. The seal behind the gimbal bearing doesn't need to be replaced.

Make sure you do replace the oblong o-ring around the water passage.

You should really start a new thread and put this thread in as a reference.

 

[GMTK]

Sorry about that Bruce, I will start a new thread and link this to it.

 

[GA_Boater]

Sorry about that Bruce, I will start a new thread and link this to it.

Did it for you already - http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...gas-engines-outdrives/10367991-sx-m-questions

 

[smurg109]

Thus doesn't show which direction the gimble bearing goes in, with the slots facing in or out???

 

[bruceb58]

Thus doesn't show which direction the gimble bearing goes in, with the slots facing in or out???

Doesn't matter which direction the slots go.

BTW...this is a really old thread.