Carrier/Pinion Bearings Feel Lumpy

[FluffyChicken]

I was attempting to set the rolling torque on this SX-M carrier over the weekend. As I got closer to the final torque spec the bearings started to feel "lumpy". Not gritty or anything. Its just smooth then resistance then smooth ect. The races feel smooth as can be and visually the rollers look great. I'm assuming I got some dirt in there probably? I did see a little flake of something pop out while doing a preliminary cleaning. Any advice on getting these super clean? Just spray with brake clean and hit with air/oil right after? Any idea if I can still use this crush sleeve being that I never made it to the full torque spec? Or can I give it a few taps to expand it a bit like "The Ayr Cave Shop" on youtube?

 

[muc]

YOU can reuse the crush sleeve if you want to, heck you can reuse the bolt that holds it together IF you want. It's your drive you can do anything you want, but why? You're risking a multi thousand $ drive to try and save a few bucks? The crush sleeve deforms when you start to crush it. Have you ever bent some metal and noticed that it bends much easier each time you bend it again? I suggest you buy 2 crush sleeves and bolts, Why take a chance?

You think the bearings might be dirty? Stop and clean them! This isn't something you want to guess at. Suggest you use paint thinner and compressed air to clean them, brake clean dries so fast that it really isn't that good for cleaning bearings, but will work if you use a lot of it. Yes, always put the correct lube on bearings as soon as you're done cleaning.

If you're checking rolling torque correctly.
The loose/tight that you're feeling almost always means you have at least one bad bearing. It doesn't matter if they look good. What matters is that they shouldn't go loose/tight when you spin it.

I would stop watching "The Ayr Cave Shop" for Volvo Penta advise. He doesn't know what he's doing and that's a 290A he's working on.
Maybe try "Teds Marine Repair" on YouTube, he's pretty good.

Don't use a spring scale for a SX drive. The best is a 0-30 in. lb. dial type torque wrench, but I understand that's a lot of $$$$. I have used a 0-80 in. lb. beam style at both Mercury and Volvo factory schools and they work good enough for amateur's.
When setting rolling torque, you usually don't get a valid reading until the first 1/2 turn and really are looking for at least one full revolution. Spin it at about 30 RPMs.

 

[FluffyChicken]

YOU can reuse the crush sleeve if you want to, heck you can reuse the bolt that holds it together IF you want. It's your drive you can do anything you want, but why? You're risking a multi thousand $ drive to try and save a few bucks? The crush sleeve deforms when you start to crush it. Have you ever bent some metal and noticed that it bends much easier each time you bend it again? I suggest you buy 2 crush sleeves and bolts, Why take a chance?

You think the bearings might be dirty? Stop and clean them! This isn't something you want to guess at. Suggest you use paint thinner and compressed air to clean them, brake clean dries so fast that it really isn't that good for cleaning bearings, but will work if you use a lot of it. Yes, always put the correct lube on bearings as soon as you're done cleaning.

If you're checking rolling torque correctly.
The loose/tight that you're feeling almost always means you have at least one bad bearing. It doesn't matter if they look good. What matters is that they shouldn't go loose/tight when you spin it.

I would stop watching "The Ayr Cave Shop" for Volvo Penta advise. He doesn't know what he's doing and that's a 290A he's working on.
Maybe try "Teds Marine Repair" on YouTube, he's pretty good.

Don't use a spring scale for a SX drive. The best is a 0-30 in. lb. dial type torque wrench, but I understand that's a lot of $$$$. I have used a 0-80 in. lb. beam style at both Mercury and Volvo factory schools and they work good enough for amateur's.
When setting rolling torque, you usually don't get a valid reading until the first 1/2 turn and really are looking for at least one full revolution. Spin it at about 30 RPMs.

I cleaned the heck out of these bearings. Kept the work area spotless as I could and greased everything. Fresh crush sleeve and bolt too. Still feels lumpy so I've likely got a bad bearing unfortunately.

I do have one question though. Is it possible that my cheap china made dial torque wrench is causing me to over torque the bearings and this is causing the lumpy symptom? It went from buttery smooth to damn near locked up and lumpy when torqueing from .9Nm(8in/lbs) to 1.1Nm(9.5in/lbs)-ish. Also buttery smooth on the gauge needle to jumpy all over the place. I did actually end up ordering a nicer USA made 0-30in/lb Proto brand torque wrench to verify this and to redo everything regardless.

I understand that its likely a bad bearing(not sure how it went bad only 500 hours on the boat and felt great when I took it off) and I'll have to swap them both. Just worried about getting the races in/out without buying the VP specific drifts for the press. Probably should have just taken it to a shop at this point but I do enjoy learning, just not spending the extra money

Also I have seen a ton of Teds videos. That guys got some great content.

 

[muc]

Only use grease on the seal surface, use Volvo Penta gear lube on the bearings.
I've only over torqued these a few times and that was long ago, but I don't remember them getting loose/tight when I did. They just read high.

I've only done this job once without the special tools. The main danger is cocking one of the cups during disassembly or reassembly. Without the special tools, I would recommend being very careful when knocking them when out and using cold/heat for installation. You need to be sure they are fully seated. It is easy to distort the pinion bearing carrier housing if a cup gets cocked.

I would recommend that you check gear backlash and tooth pattern during reassembly, I have seen this needing to be adjusted after bearing replacement.

500 is low hours for bearing failure, I usually only see this type of symptom due to impact or water intrusion. If you suspect impact -- check splined sleeve between upper and lower and check rolling torque on lower. If water -- check propshaft rolling torque and think about checking bearings in lower.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Only use grease on the seal surface, use Volvo Penta gear lube on the bearings.
I've only over torqued these a few times and that was long ago, but I don't remember them getting loose/tight when I did. They just read high.

I've only done this job once without the special tools. The main danger is cocking one of the cups during disassembly or reassembly. Without the special tools, I would recommend being very careful when knocking them when out and using cold/heat for installation. You need to be sure they are fully seated. It is easy to distort the pinion bearing carrier housing if a cup gets cocked.

I would recommend that you check gear backlash and tooth pattern during reassembly, I have seen this needing to be adjusted after bearing replacement.

500 is low hours for bearing failure, I usually only see this type of symptom due to impact or water intrusion. If you suspect impact -- check splined sleeve between upper and lower and check rolling torque on lower. If water -- check propshaft rolling torque and think about checking bearings in lower.

Thank you. Yes I had planned on setting the carrier in the sun/oven for a while and putting the races in a bag in the freezer when installing to hopefully get me a bit of an easier install. The truth of the matter is that this venture started because I had about 1/3 of a shot glass of gear oil in my bellows this spring. Should have just ran it this year. Haha.

Im perplexed because the bearings/races to the eye and touch are in great shape and it was buttery smooth when torqueing up until 1.1nm. My new wrench should be here today. I will take a gander later and see what I come up with.

Thanks for the help.