Re: Major grinding sounds
U-joint usually gives a metal clanging sound, not a grinding sound. Some of the metal grinding sounds I've had are .... engine bearings shot, starter not disengaging from fly wheel, gimble bearing shot... not to mention that this weekend I heard the same noise you are describing plus boat was very difficult to shift from forward and from reverse unless I stopped engine first...then, while pulling kids at a hauling @ss speed on a tube the boat seemed to pop out of gear leaving us stranded in the water. After checking it out, my boat will not go in gear and stay there ...so I'm suspecting a problem in the lower unit...at first I thought I had spun a coupler or trashed a u-joint because it shifted good but wouldn't go anywhere. Now, I can push the shift shaft around with my finger (once the shifter is in gear) and it will go into gear but will not go on it's own and stay threre... (all of this will be repeated in another topic)<br /> I'd start by looking over engine and flywheel areas for anything that might be rubbing against anything that turns and try to isolate where the noise is coming from...not knowing what you are hearing I'd say it could be anything from a bad water pump or alternator to the bearings in the outdrive. I have even used one of those automotive stethoscopes to locate roaring noises from a bad bearing. Grinding and roaring are different types of noises... grinding/clanging could be gears not meshing properly. Hope you have good luck solving the problem. I know your boat since I've currently got 3 with the same outdrive and one of them has the exact same engine which I've just rebuilt and will be installing in the next day or two.
