Is this a reasonable quote?

[milesdude]

Hello! I have a 2010 Volvo Penta 5.0 GXi and have noticed a grinding noise when I'm turning left or right. This has gotten progressively worse over the past 6 months to the point where I no longer felt I should run it. I did some research and it looks like it may be the gimbal bearing, u-joints or both. So I took it to a mechanic and they came back with this quote. I'm not sure if this is reasonable as I have never taken this boat in for any significant repairs. Before I got the boat a year ago it was sitting on a lift for 4 years without any use. The engine has about 350 hours on it.
The mechanics quote is for replacing the gimbal bearing, pivot housing, u-joints and bellows, plus labor.

I want expecting to have to replace all of those parts, the cost of the pivot housing has me blown away and I'm just confused as to why I would need a new housing in the first place since the engine is not damaged. Could they not put the housing back on after replacing the gimbal bearing, u-joints and bellows?

All said & done they want $4,078 to fix it. Full quote attached.

I would love to get some opinions on this before I commit to this price. Thank you in advance!

- Miles

 

[Scott Danforth]

It's high, however I do my own work

 

[Lou C]

When they said that they had to pry the drive off the pivot housing that suggests that the drive & pivot housing were corroded together and the pivot was damaged in the removal. This can happen if the drive is not removed for a long time because there is no gasket between them to prevent metal to metal contact. The fact that the gimble bearing was seized onto the drive shaft suggests that the bellows was leaking for a while. Was the drive removed yearly? If not this is due to a lack of maintenance. I/Os are high maintenance and if you don’t do it regularly this is what happens….

 

[tpenfield]

Typically, a repair shop is going to replace parts that are suspect and not roll the dice or rework a part that a DIY'er might do.

I do all my own work, so the quote seems pricey, but not sure what your alternatives are.

 

[Grub54891]

Yes, lack of service in the past. Can't tell you how many times I've seen that. Possibly a bit high but then again, they don't know if any more issues will pop up. We used to quote high and hope it comes in as less after the repairs, which works out better for you. Sometimes no matter how well you look at the job other issues pop up. A simple oil fitting or hose nipple cracking adds hours to a job. And the bonding screws have a tendency to get froze in the housing also and break off. Keep it serviced after the repairs and it should be good.

 

[Scott06]

Looks like this is the result of lack of maintenance as other have suggested. If drive is never removed and it is in salt water things don't like to come apart.

I'm not a professional mechanic, but well experienced industrial and home mechanic, it took me 2 weekends to get through my bellows replacement this spring- so I think the hours estimate is actually pretty good. The issue is the housing cost and drive shaft/ujoint cost being so high from VP. VP only sells the driveshaft ujoints and input shaft as an assembly vs separate ujoints, but judging from what we're reading your input shaft to drive is likely corroded and wont seal anyways... Over half the bill is parts and factory parts aren't cheap.

 

[Lou C]

One point to keep in mind on the Volvo SX & SX-A drives….there is no gasket between the drive & the pivot housing. This is in contrast to the OMC Cobra (which is what the SX was developed from) and all the Merc drives. So for salt water brackish water and even high mineral fresh water these parts can corrode together if the drive isn’t removed yearly. In freshwater regions it’s easy for people to think I don’t have to do that, that’s for the poor souls in salt water. Not so! In addition if I had one of those when the drive was reinstalled I would coat the mating surfaces with Evinrude triple guard grease to prevent corrosion. The gasket used on the other drives insulated these parts from each other. When I pull the Cobra each year it just slides off after 6 months in salt water…

 

[muc]

I don’t see a water intake hose in the quote. Suggest you do that while you’re in there.
Price is about right.
As I used to tell customers, just think of all the money you saved by not doing the yearly maintenance. If you factor that in, it’s only $2000 for this repair.

 

[Lou C]

The last time I did both the bellows on the Cobra it took about 2 hrs after removing the drive. This varies with the drive system of course, but what I do is get a rope, and tie the pivot housing to it, and tie the other end to the ski hook on the transom to hold it up so it doesn't weigh on the shift cable, this saves me from having to disconnect the shift cable at the bellcrank and re-adjust it. Some people leave the pivot on and remove the exhaust bellows to get clearance to do the u joint bellows but I think it's better to remove it because it keeps the hinge pins from getting seized in place and you can more easily make sure that the bellows is properly attached to the flange on the gimble housing (very important). I know that on the Volvo drives you have to disconnect the cable from the bellcrank and re-adjust.
If you pull the drive once a season and replace the bellows as soon as you see small cracks forming in the folds you likely won't have a problem.

 

[milesdude]

Thank you all for your replies! Great feedback and very informative. I spoke to the mechanic and he said he believes this is the first time the drive shaft has ever been pulled off. The bellows had been leaking for a while and I was lucky the whole thing didn't seize up.

I'm going to go ahead with the quote and just hope nothing else comes up. I'm having him pull the prop and add gear oil where needed too. Here are pictures of the disassembled drive.

I'll definitely be doing the yearly maintenance on it now. I've only had it for a year and would like to keep it running for many years to come.

 

[Lou C]

That's a deferred maintenance issue. This one is 34 years old and used in salt water 20+ years. Gonna be expensive!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Thank you all for your replies! Great feedback and very informative. I spoke to the mechanic and he said he believes this is the first time the drive shaft has ever been pulled off. The bellows had been leaking for a while and I was lucky the whole thing didn't seize up.

I'm going to go ahead with the quote and just hope nothing else comes up. I'm having him pull the prop and add gear oil where needed too. Here are pictures of the disassembled drive.

I'll definitely be doing the yearly maintenance on it now. I've only had it for a year and would like to keep it running for many years to come.

Those pics show over a year of water in the bellows

 

[tpenfield]

Based on the pictures . . . $4K is a good deal.

 

[Toddavid]

Thank you all for your replies! Great feedback and very informative. I spoke to the mechanic and he said he believes this is the first time the drive shaft has ever been pulled off. The bellows had been leaking for a while and I was lucky the whole thing didn't seize up.

I'm going to go ahead with the quote and just hope nothing else comes up. I'm having him pull the prop and add gear oil where needed too. Here are pictures of the disassembled drive.

I'll definitely be doing the yearly maintenance on it now. I've only had it for a year and would like to keep it running for many years to come.

That’s one way to remove the gimbal bearing…

 

[Grub54891]

Wowzers! Never saw one that bad. Glad you didn't ignore the noises. It could have been worse if the thing locked up and broke other stuff.

 

[Lou C]

If the ujoints let go at speed that could have been catastrophic as in a destroyed gimble housing & water coming in the boat!

 

[BRICH1260]

I say pay the bill and learn from your previous owners mistakes. Pull that drive regularly and grease everything up well.

 

[Lou C]

Buy a drive jack and the tools to do it, if you have the room and you will not have much trouble with your stern drive. The only real specific stern drive tools you need are the drive jack (makes it 100% easier, saves your back) and the alignment bar
change gear oil each year, pull drive and check engine alignment, inspect gimble bearings, u joints and bellows. Replace bellows as soon as small cracks form in the folds
Doing this I have not had big repairs on the drive system and it's been used in the salt for over 20 years.

 

[Lou C]

what you want those parts to look like lol

 

[milesdude]

View attachment 372121View attachment 372122View attachment 372123
what you want those parts to look like lol

LOL yeah thats more like it. Parts are ordered and I should be back on the water by late next week.