volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

[jetro57070]

a few years back I took my "Forester" (no longer made) boat with 1994 volvo penta MD 3.0 engine and SX outdrive to the dealer to have the lower unit dropped, the internal u joints lubed and the bellows replaced. after receiving the boat, i noticed that the lower unit made this vibrating / chattering / sort of grinding noise. and I thought that maybe the gears needed to kind of reseat or "wear" back into position, and noticed that this noise only happens when turning, not while going straight. and I asked the dealer whats up and they disacknolwedge any wrong doing, and told me either it was that way or that its normal, I forget which one as it was years ago, then a few years ago I had to replace the starter motor, and noticed that in the bottom of the boat there was a fairly large bolt just laying there, and for the life of me I could not figure out where it came from. Then last year I noticed that the bilge pump started to come on alot, and so I opened up the back and noticed that there is a leak in the boat coming from the transom plate, from where there appears to be a missing bolt> well this may be the cause of the vibrating sound, (yes or no) but I can not find this bolt or any other thing, on any of the transom drawings for this year of motor, the hole is right in the middle of the transom and appears to go from the inside of the boat, through the transom, to the outside some where behind a corosion annode on the outside, however when I look at all the manufacturers drawings, it does not show a transom plate bolt and it does not show any screws or bolts holding the corosion annode onto anything. short of paying the guys most likely responsible for not putting the bolt back in, or not putting the lower unit back on properly, how can I figure this out with out spending a fortune?

 

[jetro57070]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

adding related drawingsView attachment SX TRANSOM PLATE FLYWHEEL HO.pdfView attachment SX TRANSOM SHIELD.pdf

 

[Don S]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

Can you put an item number on the missing bolt?
Have you pulled the drive and looked at the ujoints? If not put back together correctly, it will vibrate.

 

[jetro57070]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

Can you put an item number on the missing bolt?
Have you pulled the drive and looked at the ujoints? If not put back together correctly, it will vibrate.

thanks for the reply, my answer is no I can not put a number on the bolt. and I have further inspected the situation and I believe that I am looking at some kind of drain hole now, and truely have a mystery bolt from something else. I'll try to attach a picture, but I jammed my pinky finger in the hole and could not feel any threads, and so I too a picture of it, and it looks like it is actually some kind of drain??? no idea, what I am staring at is not on the parts drawing either. As for taking it lower unit / out drive off and looking at the U joint, etc.. I don't have the tools and as well the thing is probably pretty damn heavy and I would probably need a winch or cherry picker, with which I own none of, either that or it would cost me a lot of beer to hire my friends to hold it while I crank out the giant star bolts and there is 2 very large pins as well. that why I just brought it to the service center, for a couple hundred $$ they claimed to remove it and grease it up, only problem is the problem / chattering was there the day I got it back and was not there the day I brought it in. always a possibility that something else is loose due to mystery bolt, and I replaced the started a few years back and there was some other snapped bolts on the fuse holder bracket, so I suppose, older it gets the more problems with things I'll have. but it makes no noise when motor is going straight, only when turning???
on the picture its the center hole with the trail of rust going vertically down from silver plate towards the drain. picture has circular drain plug touching bottom of picture, and your looking at the flywheel/starter gear cover and exhaust pipe (both black) and the center gray/silver thing is what I'm trying to figure out, and you can see one of the transom bolts to the right side of the silver thing.

 

[boatguya1]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

You need to either take off the drive yourself and look or pay someone to do it. No special tools are necc.

The water you see is possibly coming through the bellows, or leaking around the transom hsg where it meets the hull, or the water connection that feeds the w/p.

James

 

[jetro57070]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

thanks I did look with a flashlight and indeed the top bellows was leaking, (big tear in in it) now for estimated damage, that probably means as suggested in the latest blog the ujoint grease is gone and probably need new U -Joint and probably bearing #70, and seal #63, but I don't see a U-Joint on the parts diagram? also I notices that there was 2 small perfectly round holes in lower bellows for exhaust, is that normal for exhaust? maybe for gas escape? if so how does it prevent water intake if the engine is not running?

 

[jetro57070]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

thanks I never thought to build a stand. brilliant. how about the giant size star bolt part #26, how do I get that out? as well there is a large pin # 24, does that just pop out?

 

[boatguya1]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

thanks I never thought to build a stand. brilliant. how about the giant size star bolt part #26, how do I get that out? as well there is a large pin # 24, does that just pop out?

You need access to a manual. For an SX drive you take the plastic cover off the upper unit (3 bolts 3/8 socket), unhook the shift cable and remove the screw on cable end,Remove large pin that goes betwwen the trim rams through the drive above the prop, Remove the 6 nuts (5/8 wrench) holding upper to pivot hsg and slide that drive right out unless the shaft is stuck in the gimbal brg then cuss and scream and get it out.

You will need tools to remove and install the gimbal brg and align the brg and engine coupler.

James

 

[jetro57070]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

thanks, any ideas where to get a manual, probably can't find one at the local car parts store, like those do it yourself "Haynes" or "Chilton" manuals. I think I am missing a drawing, time to scour the internet, If I have to pay $150 for a manual, I may as well just bring it into the shop, and save my self the hassel. I tried this once for my snowmobile a long time ago, and they charge a fortune for the maintenance manuals, unless things have changed since then, I would expect no less. ???

 

[Don S]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

Every forum I have ever seen has a thing called stickies. A few posts that are stuck to the top of the forum, usually containing information common to that forum. This forum is no different.

 

[jetro57070]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

thanks for containing your enthusiasm <--- yes this is indeed a hidden alternative to sarcasm, I do see, that there is a nice picture of a manual on the forum page, thanks for buying me a pair of glasses so I can now see. although I am skeptical, I have owned many a car manual where the whole multi purpose / multi year manual has pictures and procedures for items that are not there, exist in a different location, are a different size, etc... just like my truck where it cost me $80 to replace a cheap plastic door handle piece actually worth about $2 because the manual said there was 1 screw to remove, and actually there was another one, and I busted the damn thing

 

[Don S]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

You obviously don't know what a sticky is, or you would have found the link to the FREE Oem service manuals I posted links to, that you could download.

 

[jetro57070]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

thankx currently cussing and screaming as it is jamed and won't come out. I just spent an hour looking for the damn manual I thought I downloaded last week, it never ends, hope to retain my sanity, we'll see? I see now screaming was warranted, turns out water hose is holding it together, and i see a nice shinny hose clamp that I have no access to in order to take it off, now it looks like I have to separate the upper gear housing in order to get the damn hose off? no idea why the mechanical engineer who designed this must have had an annurrism? oh I get it, its so you have to pay the mechanic for another 2 hours of shop time for no other reason that the engineer was lazy?

 

[boatguya1]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

thankx currently cussing and screaming as it is jamed and won't come out. I just spent an hour looking for the damn manual I thought I downloaded last week, it never ends, hope to retain my sanity, we'll see? I see now screaming was warranted, turns out water hose is holding it together, and i see a nice shinny hose clamp that I have no access to in order to take it off, now it looks like I have to separate the upper gear housing in order to get the damn hose off? no idea why the mechanical engineer who designed this must have had an annurrism? oh I get it, its so you have to pay the mechanic for another 2 hours of shop time for no other reason that the engineer was lazy?

Time to stop blaming the engineer for your drive not coming off easy. There is no hose that must have a clamp removed to get the drive off. There is no hose to remove from anything to get the drive off. I told you in an earlier post what needed to be removed to get the drive off. If there is a water hose holding it together you most likely are trying to take the pivot hsg off with the drive. In general it takes 10 minutes to remove an sx drive. The hose clamp you are cussing is probably accessed with the drive off.

It might be worth paying someone to remove the drive and give you a couple pointers on completing the job.

James

 

[jetro57070]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

thanx, of course you were correct sir. i wasted 1/2 hour using a tiny 5/8 wrench and got the hose off, and Yep, no reason to take it off, so Lesson Learned, drive came off after about 1/2 hour of shaking it back and forth, It hasn't been serviced in a long time = many years, looks like gimbal bearing is fried, it rattles around and probably siezed up? bellows had hole in it so water got inside: U-Joint appears, OK? how do you tell if its worn? take it all apart? its a little rusty but moves very smoothly and for some reason there appears to be no flywheel bearing? I can look through the gimbal bearing and see the U-Joint drive shaft coupler, I will look at the drawings tomorrow, the fly wheel bearing is maybe on the other side of the coupler? drive shaft/coupler looks perfectly alligned, thanx again!

 

[mikeneal]

Re: volvo penta SX outdrive chattering

The u joint should move smoothly and have no clearance. If it was mine I would fix the bellows, bearing and replace them for good measure. Alignment isn't a visual thing, requires a specify tool. Not trying to come off as a jerk but my advice is to find a decent marine tech and have the work performed. We all start somewhere but before you start cussing the design engineers , some basic knowledge and education via the service techniques provided are in order. Don tried to send you down the path of proper education with factory service manual advice, something's are best left to the pros.

thanx, of course you were correct sir. i wasted 1/2 hour using a tiny 5/8 wrench and got the hose off, and Yep, no reason to take it off, so Lesson Learned, drive came off after about 1/2 hour of shaking it back and forth, It hasn't been serviced in a long time = many years, looks like gimbal bearing is fried, it rattles around and probably siezed up? bellows had hole in it so water got inside: U-Joint appears, OK? how do you tell if its worn? take it all apart? its a little rusty but moves very smoothly and for some reason there appears to be no flywheel bearing? I can look through the gimbal bearing and see the U-Joint drive shaft coupler, I will look at the drawings tomorrow, the fly wheel bearing is maybe on the other side of the coupler? drive shaft/coupler looks perfectly alligned, thanx again!
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