My sterndrive's buggered - help please

[oGaryo]

nope, all nice and dry in there but in Sept 2010 the bellows and Gimbal Bearing were replaced after a leak from a punctured bellow... What appears not to have been done is a thorough clean of the affected area to remove salt.. Whilst dry, the U Joints are heavily rusted and two of the end caps have split... A few more miles at speed and I reckon it would have gone bang...

 

[lovezoo]

Ok, so they didn't replace the u-joints at the same time as they did the bellows/gimbal?

 

[oGaryo]

Will check the invoice when back home but I don't believe they did.. Work was done as apparently, the work the service agent did 3 months earlier resulted in split bellows according to the then owner... Contested by the SA that they split due to barnacle growth. The Gimbal and replacement bellows were done foc to put things right after the leak.

 

[z1ppy]

Fingers crossed for you Gary! glad you got her out ok, is stopped by the slip way about 5 on my way past but no sign!

 

[tinkicker0]

Will check the invoice when back home but I don't believe they did.. Work was done as apparently, the work the service agent did 3 months earlier resulted in split bellows according to the then owner... Contested by the SA that they split due to barnacle growth. The Gimbal and replacement bellows were done foc to put things right after the leak.

King Neptune was smiling on you in that case. If it had gone bang while at speed it would have smashed the gimbal bearing and ripped the bellows.

A Mayday call re heavily taking on water would have soon followed.

Trickett's have the necessary bits in stock and it's not a particularly onerous task to swap the hardy spicer. You dodged the worst case scenario - the driveshaft rusted solid in the gimbal bearing.

 

[STEVEDUNSTABLE]

Will check the invoice when back home but I don't believe they did.. Work was done as apparently, the work the service agent did 3 months earlier resulted in split bellows according to the then owner... Contested by the SA that they split due to barnacle growth. The Gimbal and replacement bellows were done foc to put things right after the leak.

STREWTH G !!!!!!!......just think, that vid we took could of ended with a touch of the "TITANIC,S !!!!"....... glad you,ve found the prob, hope all works out asap..keep us forumites posted........... ................... ................ (ps. i recon you were goin to fast!!!...i had trouble keepin up!!!!.....goodfun though was,nt it!!!!!)

 

[lovezoo]

Will check the invoice when back home but I don't believe they did.. Work was done as apparently, the work the service agent did 3 months earlier resulted in split bellows according to the then owner... Contested by the SA that they split due to barnacle growth. The Gimbal and replacement bellows were done foc to put things right after the leak.

Really if the gimbal has failed due to water in the bellows, you would expect the ujoints to need to be replaced as well.

A Mayday call re heavily taking on water would have soon followed.

Do you really think you would take so much water on that the bilge pump couldn't cope? Its not exactly an enormous hole that the water could come in through, even without the bellows.

 

[tinkicker0]

T

Really if the gimbal has failed due to water in the bellows, you would expect the ujoints to need to be replaced as well.


Do you really think you would take so much water on that the bilge pump couldn't cope? Its not exactly an enormous hole that the water could come in through, even without the bellows.

Absolutely. A half inch hole in the hull would overwhelm a 1000 gph pump and how long would the battery last without the engine?

The gimbal breaks up and the grease seal goes with it, leaving a very sizeable hole.

 

[oGaryo]

Really if the gimbal has failed due to water in the bellows, you would expect the ujoints to need to be replaced as well.

found the invoice:

UJ Bellows, Gear Shift Bellows, Exhaust Bellows and Water pickup found to be punctured!

Changed:

Shift Cable Bellow
Water Pickup Pipe
UJ Bellow
Leg Gasket
Gimbal Bearing.

UJ's were not changed (perma lube on the Gen 2) and going by the state of them, it'd appear the drive was rebuilt with the UJ's awash with salt water... would they have rusted if cleaned. I know perma lube doesn't need greasing but would you have expected them to have been treated or indeed changed in the above scenario?

not on a witch hunt, just wanting to learn what may have been missed and whether there's anthing else I need to check if it's a case of the gimbal bearing being fitted, bellows changed and the drive was literally put back together without treating for salt contamination.

note: last season, I found water in the gear lube (did a thread on it).. I flushed everything out at the time and did a pressre/ vacuum test of the drive... suggest the gear lube wasn't changed either which is reflected in the invoice i.e. lube isn't listed

 

[[2068]]

I'd expect to have been given a choice.

e.g. "UJ was in water, might or might not survive a few seasons more".

Things can get spectacular if a UJ lets go at high speed.

 

[[2068]]

Do you really think you would take so much water on that the bilge pump couldn't cope?

On a DP-E, it would be marginal as to whether an average sized bilge pump could cope. If the bearing broke up and the bellows were badly damaged, you're probably on the set of the Titanic.

 

[oGaryo]

Overall condition of the U Joint.. note the cracked endcap.. the c clips were broken too.

Sorry about the quality, taken from the phone... close up of one of the cracked endcaps

errrrm... confirmation I was a tad over zelous with the Gimbal Bearing grease gun

No job is complete without a mini ironing board to use as a component organiser

and no job is as gratifying as having a a good man assist you with every aspect of the work from moving trailers, tugging the boat out the water and taking it to the boatyard, getting stuck in to the drive removal and attempts to free the U Joints from their housing.. then to top it all, putting you up for the night... top man is our Roy!! thanks buddy rubba dubba bubba hubba ova n out

 

[[2068]]

Borrowing a phrase from common vernacular, that UJ looks "well knackered".
No way would I have put that back on with new bellows, even without the cracked caps.

 

[lovezoo]

T

Absolutely. A half inch hole in the hull would overwhelm a 1000 gph pump and how long would the battery last without the engine?

The gimbal breaks up and the grease seal goes with it, leaving a very sizeable hole.

Agreed, but it would still have the drive shaft in it and the remains of the gimbal bearing, grease and other debris.

Mind you, I wouldn't want to find out.

 

[lovezoo]

Borrowing a phrase from common vernacular, that UJ looks "well knackered".
No way would I have put that back on with new bellows, even without the cracked caps.

Depends if it looked like that when the gimbal bearing was replaced 18 months ago, but you would have to suspect it needed changing if the gimbal bearing itself was knackered due to saltwater.

 

[oGaryo]

Borrowing a phrase from common vernacular, that UJ looks "well knackered".
No way would I have put that back on with new bellows, even without the cracked caps.

yep, me too... it's obviously deteriorated over the last 18 months since the drive was put back together but clearly nothing's been protected since the leak from the bellows... I'll be replacing both U Joints obviously but also reprotecting the metalwork (treating then painting them) before doing so... the UJ's are stuck fast at present so any idea's how to free them would be appreciated... Roy tried a heat gun and got them moving but wouldn't go further to the side than flush with the outside edge of the holder... I reckon I need to clean all the crud from the inside so it'll move through the retaining hole more easily.. got a few heavy duty C clamps in the garage that'll hopefully do the job with a large socket on one end.

again, any other ideas as to how to get the knackered UJ's out would be appreciated.

 

[lovezoo]

UJ puller.

 

[oGaryo]

UJ puller.

is that the one that looks like a fancy C Clamp?

 

[lovezoo]

There is a picture on 3A-17 of the manual:

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/6/6A3R3.PDF

If I were you I would have a google and see if anyone has done it some other way with a tool you already have.

 

[oGaryo]

thanks

one of these:

UJ Puller