Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

[Esquire]

I just pulled my outdrive for 1st time (at about 200 hrs sorry!) due to gimbal bearing noise. Found water in shaft bellows, and based on grease in water jacket think it may have came from there. Question 1: thoughts on that? Second concern is the last 3 inches of driveshaft appears to have gotten hot and I can't assume that is normal. Question 2: is my engine coupler going bad? New to i/o maintenance, but mechanically sound. Pictures say it better. Thanks you. Wes

 

[skydiveD30571]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

I'm guessing this is an SX drive?

Now you see why it is recommended you pull the drive every year. For one, if water intrusion occurs these parts won't be sitting in water for years. And two, the shaft splines are to be greased every year to help stop premature coupler wear. Also checking the alignment is important.

Besides gimbal noise, do you have any running problems? With water intrusion your first step is to find where it came from. Inspect the bellows for cuts or nicks, and if it is more than a few years old it is wise to replace it anyways. You'll almost certainly need a new gimbal bearing installed. How do the u-joints feel? Any slop/grinding/noise and you move them in all directions? Was there gear lube in the bellows as well?

 

[Esquire]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

Sorry... read the how to ask question while waiting on answer (my bad.)
Yes SX drive, yes had lube in shaft bellows also, I had no running or noise problems until sudden gimbal noise and had to run about 2 hours to get back to harbor. U-joint has slight rust, but moves freely in all directions. Bellows and engine are 2005 with 200 hours. They seem sound and pliable, which is why I wonder about the water jacket gasket. My thought was to replace water gasket, clean bellows, relube old bearing, reassemble and put in lake for 10 minutes to see if water intrusion occurs again. But if 8 years (irregardless of hours) is bellows replacement time, I'll just do the whole gambit (plus bearing and seal.) By the time you pull the bellows to check them, you might as well replace at this point. Final thought is the drive shaft... should I be concerned if alignment is OK (waiting on tool to fed ex here?)

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

Bellows should be replaced every 3 to 4 years.

I would definitely replace the gimbal bearing. If you had gimbal bearing noise, the bearing is toast.

The reason you had gear lube in there is that the input shaft going into the drive corroded and wiped out the seal. Seal and whole new input shaft(includes u-joints) should be replaced.

This is why you pull the drive every year. You have an expensive repair bill here,

 

[Esquire]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

My mistake on gear lube, I thought gear grease. I have white water smeared gear grease in the bellows and water jacket. The outdrive is sealed and solid. The gimbal bearing is an obvious... that's what I went in to replace in first place. U-joints I'll decide on after get other answers. Please note my recruit status and thanks for teaching, me and others, who maybe are good at vehicle mechanics, but marine maintenance presents a new challenge.
As for the input on bellows, it sounds like bellows repacement is due, but raises another question: For future reference on this and other parts...is it just time/hours or do low hours matter regardless of time? And back to my original concern--one that's not in a book and I need experienced help with: Is the heat at end of drive shaft a concern if engine alignment is OK? If so, how much and if not now, when? Let's not even talk cost! Thanks again.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

Time on the bellows. You also want to store your drive in the down position.

Can't say on the discoloration. Could have been the heat of the bearing causing that. If the alignment was off enough to cause that heat, your coupler would be worn out and metal filings everywhere inside.

Have you drained your gear lube lately? That should also be done every year(preferably before winter).

 

[skydiveD30571]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

They seem sound and pliable, which is why I wonder about the water jacket gasket.

The lip of the pinion carrier housing shown here (black arrow)

seals up against the lip of the bellows shown here (blue mark)


So your water gasket will not cause water to get into the bellows. The only things to cause this are:
1) Torn or punctured bellows
2) Improperly installed bellows (tightening the clamp too tight or not seated in the groove)
3) Bilge filled with enough water to enter the engine side of the bellows

 

[insttech1]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

That is an odd heat discolaration on the shaft. Did the engine overheat?

My thoughts.....for what they're worth:
Orings on shaft not melted, but there is heat discoloration. Shaft probably OK. Needs scotchbrite cleaning, gently.
Do you have zirks on the ujoints on the shaft? If so, grease the hell outta them, and check them. If not, replace ujoints.
It's not just whether or not the move freely; it's also if they have "play" in them, which definitely needs new ujoints.
(It apparently can be done without replacing entire shaft assembly; do a search under the DIY section).
Clean shaft and replace orings.
Replace lip seal to be found behind gimbal bearing (if there). Some say it's not necessary (me and Don S. included).
(BUT--if you're not gonna pull your drive regularly, and get water in there, then that keeps water from getting to coupler.......)
Inspect and/or replace seal going to outdrive where shaft enters, if you pull assembly out to replace ujoints.
Replace drive lube.
Replace bellows. (Every 3 years....) store w/ engine down, as up "stresses" bellows.
Replace gimbal bearing. Inspect w/ flashlight everything behind gimbal bearing, after pulling lip seal, and check for metal shavings.
Align engine.
Grease hell out of shaft splines when re-inserting into coupler.
Replace seal as noted on drive unit.

But those are just my thoughts........

 

[Walt T]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

I think the shaft was once heated off the drive for straightening or something like that. Thats a very even job done by a machinist it looks like.

My two cents anyway

 

[Grub54891]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

That shaft is probbally heat treated from factory. Seen a few over time,never gave em a second thought. Mabe some come out not as shiny/pretty as others. I'd find it pretty hard to belive it would have ever gotted hot enough to do that on the boat. Also I'd find it very hard to belive that someone would attempt to straighten a bent one,besides,how could it get bent to begin with.
Grub

 

[dypcdiver]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

Mine is the same (discoloured) and has been since new (1999). The way the end caps on the UJ are rusted I would definitely be re-building them. If you go to the Adults only section of this forum and then to Volvo Penta Information then look at Number 4. SX and DP-S Ujoints with outside keepers. You can get the part numbers for your setup. Much cheaper to get them from an Auto dealer.
If you use a "C" clamp you can push out the caps on the input shaft and then remove the rest of the Ujoint carrier and replace the other caps on the bench. Make sure you replace the carrier back together in the same orientation i.e. not 180 deg out as some times there is a difference.

 

[Esquire]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

Thanks to all for minimal brow beating and maximum help and information. YES, I will pull my drive every year and replace parts based on time from now on. All other maintenance was done accordingly... just didn't use enough to research the drive removal (or so I thought.) All parts on order and will be in early next week. Will replace lip seal, bearing, bellows (and have read extensive bulletin info on problems) and rebuild u-joints. One last question to hightlight how much I don't know... Where is the adult only section... saw it when creating account, but not sure where now. Thanks again to all for your knowledge and patience.

 

[skydiveD30571]

Re: Outdrive driveshaft heated after water in bellows

Go back to "Volvo Penta I/O & Inboard Gas Engines & Outdrives" where you can see the list of threads in that section. The 2nd and 3rd links from the top are to the adult only section.