Starboard side hinge pin wont tighten

passngass

Cadet
Joined
Aug 6, 2013
Messages
10
Hello,
I noticed today while working on my trim sender that there was some play in my alpha one 1st gen hinge pin. I pulled off the sender, got the special tool out and wentvto see if it was tight. Well it turned very easy, and never would get tight. If you wiggle the drive you can see the pin move and kinda back out a bit. All this wouldnt be a problem if the whole thing was old and it was time for new bellows and such. How last year in june the drive shaft ujoint broke and made a mess of the gimbal housing. I had all of it replaced, transome plate, bell housing bellows the whole nine. Now im having this problem.
I dontvwant but im about to drop the lower unit and pull the pin out andcsee what ihave. Either a broke pin, or a striped thread.?

My question would be does anyone know of a fix for this scenario? I.E. bigger hinge pin, some J.B. Weld or will i have to replace the gimbal ring? Or is there a draft that the pin screws into that could be replaced?

I thank you in advance for any and all help.

Michael
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,953
Re: Starboard side hinge pin wont tighten

Hello,
I noticed today while working on my trim sender that there was some play in my alpha one 1st gen hinge pin. I pulled off the sender, got the special tool out and wentvto see if it was tight. Well it turned very easy, and never would get tight. If you wiggle the drive you can see the pin move and kinda back out a bit. All this wouldnt be a problem if the whole thing was old and it was time for new bellows and such. How last year in june the drive shaft ujoint broke and made a mess of the gimbal housing. I had all of it replaced, transome plate, bell housing bellows the whole nine. Now im having this problem.
I dontvwant but im about to drop the lower unit and pull the pin out andcsee what ihave. Either a broke pin, or a striped thread.?

My question would be does anyone know of a fix for this scenario? I.E. bigger hinge pin, some J.B. Weld or will i have to replace the gimbal ring? Or is there a draft that the pin screws into that could be replaced?

I thank you in advance for any and all help.

Michael

Ayuh,.... I'd suspect the problem is in the bell housin' not the ring, as that's where the threads are,......

All ya can do is take it apart to See what's bad,...
Then develop a plan,...
 
Last edited:

passngass

Cadet
Joined
Aug 6, 2013
Messages
10
Re: Starboard side hinge pin wont tighten

Thanks, yep that what i preparing myself for now. I will update soon

Thanks again
 

thumpar

Admiral
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
6,138
Re: Starboard side hinge pin wont tighten

Hopefully it is the pin itself and not the bellhousing but I doubt it. I am pretty sure the pin is a stronger metal than the bellhousing. I will cross my fingers for you though.
 

bspeth

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
756
Re: Starboard side hinge pin wont tighten

You said you had everything replaced,was it by a boat shop or marina?If it turns out to be the housing you might want to ask them if they noticed this when the had the pins out. And ask them what they torqued the pins to.
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,291
Re: Starboard side hinge pin wont tighten

Had housings get the threads ripped out removing a corroded pin .Never had a pin strip.The hole can be heli-arced closed some, drill and retap the thread
 

passngass

Cadet
Joined
Aug 6, 2013
Messages
10
Re: Starboard side hinge pin wont tighten

Update. Well it turns out it wasvthe bell housing. The threads are stripped out. At first i was going to just put J.B. Weld on the pin and let is sit overnight but thought about and decided that would be the half asscway to fix it. I dont want to be out on the water with half *** work to depend on.
Tomorrow im taking it to the local Marina and theyvare going to put a heli coil in it. Itll be done right and no need for worries out on the water.

Thanks for all your replies. You guys were spot on with what the problem was.

Hopefully thiscwill be the last surprise of this boat restoreration.....
 
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