1985 mercruiser driveshaft frozen onto gimbal bearing.

[rolmops]

Or so I think.
Last week my gimbal bearing went kaput and 2 days ago after the new one had arrived I decided to take the gear housing off and replace the bearing. It was supposed to be quite straight forward except that it was not. I took the six bolts off without any trouble but beyond that nothing wanted to move. I poured lots of wd40 into the small slit that did open up but that did not help any either. So I cut the bellows open to see what is going on and I found out that the u-joint is in good order and straight. Then I loosened up the bell housing. This enabled me to move the gear housing back and forth because now the bell housing moved back and forth.
Long story short. This is my question. Is there a way to loosen this thing up or must I remove the engine and hammer the drive shaft out from the front?
thank you for your thoughts and opinions,Cornelis.

 

[alldodge]

Your bearing might be stuck but another cause could be the engine is so far out of alignment that the shaft is in a bind. Put the bell housing back and then raise the drive. Put some wood between the drive and transom plate and lower it slowly. Use small pieces of wood because you don't want the drive to far up

 

[rolmops]

As they say around here. "From your lips to gods ears" I so very much hope that it is that simple. Thank you for the idea.

 

[Rick Stephens]

You're in forward gear? (sorry, had to ask)

If it's hung then I can't think of any way to pull the leg without damaging either the upper or the bell housing prying on it, except, like you said, pushing it out from the engine side. What a PITA.

 

[thumpar]

Put everything back on except for the 6 nuts at the bellhouse. Use a 2x4 between the upper housing and transom assm then raise the trim. The bearing will probably come out with the drive.

 

[rolmops]

Put everything back on except for the 6 nuts at the bellhouse. Use a 2x4 between the upper housing and transom assm then raise the trim. The bearing will probably come out with the drive.

This is the way I tried it and it worked !!!!. Thank you very much for that simple tip. It probably saved me a day of cursing with the engine hanging in a tree. And yes,the bearing did come out with the drive. But the reason why it did not want to come loose is probably the driveshaft binding up,because without the gimbal being in the right place everything else also goes out of whack. So thank you gentlemen for reminding me of the things I should have known all along.
Cornelis.