UJ bellows change via upper gearbox on 290 dp

[FalconSteve]

Hi all,

I'm undertaking changing both sets of bellows on my outdrive legs, I believe it is possible to change the UJ bellows by removing the upper gearbox assembly on volvo penta Aqa290 outdrive's. Peanuts of this parish has kindly sent me the workshop manual for the drives but I'm sure I've seen some step by step instructions on this somewhere.

Does anyone recall reading about this Recently?

Any advice gratefully received as always,

Steve

 

[aquapower]

Hi all,

I'm undertaking changing both sets of bellows on my outdrive legs, I believe it is possible to change the UJ bellows by removing the upper gearbox assembly on volvo penta Aqa290 outdrive's. Peanuts of this parish has kindly sent me the workshop manual for the drives but I'm sure I've seen some step by step instructions on this somewhere.

Does anyone recall reading about this Recently?

Any advice gratefully received as always,

Steve

I wouldn't do it that way, you would then need to pressure/vacuum test and its not any easier, I changed the bellows on one a few weeks back in just under an hour, its not a difficult job as long as pins come out easily.

 

[Greg2]

I wouldn't do it that way, you would then need to pressure/vacuum test and its not any easier, I changed the bellows on one a few weeks back in just under an hour, its not a difficult job as long as pins come out easily.

+1
Why dismantle a sealed unit when it is fairly straightforward to remove the leg?

 

[oGaryo]

Steve, it's easy to drop and install a drive, I'd go that route too. leaving the shield pins in for more than 1 season isn't a great thing, when you do need to remove the drive at some time in the future, you may find them seized if you don't remove and grease up the pins on refitting fairly regularly

 

[tico]

With thanks to scubaman...

Replacing VP 290 Drive Bellows,

• Tilt drive fully down

• Drain oil

• Remove the rear cover

• Disconnect the gear shift at the upper quadrant,

• Remove the two hex bolts in the round spigot on the steering helmet, (use the long screw from the cover in one of the two small holes to each side in the spigot to wind it out)

• Swing helmet up out of the way

• Remove the two 14mm nuts, one each side of the upper housing

• Remove the two upside down hex bolts inside at the rear above the gear shift quadrant.

• Loosen the two bellows hose clips

• Prise up the upper housing until the vertical shaft in side clears the lower section,

• Twist the housing 90 degrees

• Withdraw from the bellows.

(Make sure that you don't lose any shims that sit under the large bearing in the upper section, sometimes they stick to the bearing, place them in the recess in the mid section for safety.
Sometimes the break coupling follows the upper shaft as you lift it, just shove it back down with a screwdriver so it sits on the lower vertical shaft in the mid section.)
Now you can replace the bellows, we always replace the two 'O' rings between upper and mid section too, and rebuild in reverse, note the bellows is marked TOP at the the rear. And refill with approx 2.7 liters of oil, with new 'O' rings on the drain/top plugs.

 

[oldgit]

Check steering fork seals and little plastic "top hat" plastic bearing thingies in transom assembly while leg is off.
They really do cost virtually nothing :
What about gear shift seal,exhaust hoses,inlet hose and gearshift gaitor ?

 

[volvopaul]

With thanks to scubaman...

Replacing VP 290 Drive Bellows,

• Tilt drive fully down

• Drain oil

• Remove the rear cover

• Disconnect the gear shift at the upper quadrant,

• Remove the two hex bolts in the round spigot on the steering helmet, (use the long screw from the cover in one of the two small holes to each side in the spigot to wind it out)

• Swing helmet up out of the way

• Remove the two 14mm nuts, one each side of the upper housing

• Remove the two upside down hex bolts inside at the rear above the gear shift quadrant.

• Loosen the two bellows hose clips

• Prise up the upper housing until the vertical shaft in side clears the lower section,

• Twist the housing 90 degrees

• Withdraw from the bellows.

(Make sure that you don't lose any shims that sit under the large bearing in the upper section, sometimes they stick to the bearing, place them in the recess in the mid section for safety.
Sometimes the break coupling follows the upper shaft as you lift it, just shove it back down with a screwdriver so it sits on the lower vertical shaft in the mid section.)
Now you can replace the bellows, we always replace the two 'O' rings between upper and mid section too, and rebuild in reverse, note the bellows is marked TOP at the the rear. And refill with approx 2.7 liters of oil, with new 'O' rings on the drain/top plugs.

And while your doing this " drop bits of antifouling and marine growth down inside the drive"

Take it off and do it the proper way.

 

[oldgit]

Professional peeps will develop methods of cutting down on bills for customers but if you are doing it yourself, then the cost of labour time should not really be a factor.
The extra half hour ? involved is nothing compared to bits/oils need and lift out costs, let alone repair costs and down time if something not fettled lets go half way through season.
Remove entire thing,it really does not take that much longer and you will have to remove bits that really do need to be checked and visually inspected, inc jubilee clips that secure exhaust bellows to transom plate.
It also allows you to remove hidden barnycules + clean everything properly and A/F hard to get bits.
IMHO.
By the way its going to be the best summer in history this year...are you going to enjoy it under your boat ashore half way through August.

 

[KevB]

This old thread may help...

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?192770-Removing-Volvo-290dp-e-drive-with-pics&highlight=290dp

Kevin.

 

[FalconSteve]

Dear all,

Many thanks for the replies, I think I'll do it the 'traditional way' after reading your responses. I must admit I'm quite nervous as it will be the first time I have attempted it, I figured the upper gearbox removal method would be easier for a novice.

KevB - thanks for the link, I am going to print that out to use as a visual guide to the process.

I'll let you all know how it goes, gulp!

Steve

 

[oldgit]

Just take your time.
If your memory is even a tiny bit like mine keep a camera handy and get a shot of everything you dismantle it will help to determine the order of reassembly esp. if you come across a problem and have to suspend operations until a part is available.
It really needs two of you when its time to refit leg to boat,Three if you have that many friends.
Two to hold unit while the third wiggles the splined thingy onto the drive shaft in the transom assembly.
Takes a bit of practice and job can be done by one keen bod with arms like supermans.
I rigged up little pulley device suspended from davits.
Have fun and keep VPs phone number handy for next year... only a self harming masochist ever wants to do this job ever again

 

[[2068]]

... only a self harming masochist ever wants to do this job ever again

I did it once to prove to myself that I could do it.

Now I call VolvoPaul.

 

[oGaryo]

Dear all,

Many thanks for the replies, I think I'll do it the 'traditional way' after reading your responses. I must admit I'm quite nervous as it will be the first time I have attempted it, I figured the upper gearbox removal method would be easier for a novice.

KevB - thanks for the link, I am going to print that out to use as a visual guide to the process.

I'll let you all know how it goes, gulp!

Steve

Steve, the first year I did the drives on Bizzy Bee, it took an age as I really didn't have the technique, especially when putting the drives back on. I am down this weekend, if you want me to show you what I have learned, give me a shout and I'll pop over on Sunday. There's a few things you can do to make life alot easier when getting the drive back on. The main things are:

1: put the gear linkage in neutral so you can get your hands inside the UJ bellow when lining up the drive coupling to the shaft. you can then rotate (wiggle) the UJ while aligning the shaft couplers vertically and laterally.. it'll pop in place quickly this way. you can also leave a prop on to do the rotating too. I wear thick rubber gloves and get my hands on the UJ's

2: have a plank of wood under the skeg to lift / drop the drive to line up the holes for the big pins to go through. there's a knack to preventing the UJ from collapsing when doing this else you tend to have to take the drive off again and go back to stage 1 as you cannot line up the holes without the UJ being straight, or at least I've not been able to.

3: you need to check the trim rack is in the correct position on the wheel, there's a little slotted tooth in the wheel that goes into the first tooth on the rack.

oh, and there's a knack to getting the large pins out in the first place.. tap them inwards with the steering at full lock rather than trying to pull them out. they'll press against the exhaust bellow but they will come out

Good luck, once you've done it once, you'll realise there's no need to pay an engineer a wad of your hard earned save your money to pay them to do the difficult stuff

If you want best practice on painting Duo Props, I'm NOT your man

 

[FalconSteve]

Hi all,

That was a really tough job, I've still not got the exhaust bellows back on the drive end (first job this Saturday). Why do volvo penta make the clearances so tight for every single jubilee clip? There is no need to be so mean to us!

One thing went wrong though, I tried to do the whole job on my own, removing the drives went fine but when I tried to reattach the first one I managed to ' wiggle' it too hard as I tried to align the UJ and pulled the whole lot off. No damage to the drive but it bent the gear select cable end and that cost me £50 for a new one

I learnt my lesson the first time and got SWMBO to help on the Sunday. It meant I missed out on Beaulieu boat jumble, but I was pleased to get them back on. Next time I will make it a 2 person job from the start.

Anyone got a hint for getting that exhaust bellow jubilee clip onto the drive End? Is it better to do it with the drive right down or raised slightly?

 

[oGaryo]

Hi all,

That was a really tough job, I've still not got the exhaust bellows back on the drive end (first job this Saturday). Why do volvo penta make the clearances so tight for every single jubilee clip? There is no need to be so mean to us!

One thing went wrong though, I tried to do the whole job on my own, removing the drives went fine but when I tried to reattach the first one I managed to ' wiggle' it too hard as I tried to align the UJ and pulled the whole lot off. No damage to the drive but it bent the gear select cable end and that cost me £50 for a new one

I learnt my lesson the first time and got SWMBO to help on the Sunday. It meant I missed out on Beaulieu boat jumble, but I was pleased to get them back on. Next time I will make it a 2 person job from the start.

Anyone got a hint for getting that exhaust bellow jubilee clip onto the drive End? Is it better to do it with the drive right down or raised slightly?

Wish I was down to show you Steve, easy enough with the right approach.. drive slightly up, 'pop' the bellow onto the drive (easier if you leave the steering bell and rams undone so you can move the drive side to side), slide the clip forward and then use one of the flexible drives to tighten up the clip (see link below)..

you have positioned all clips as per the recommendations? if not, the screw fittings will rub on the bellows and cause problems.

This tool helps with tightening your clips http://www.keypart.com/stock/v884573

 

[FalconSteve]

Hi Gary,

I've left the rams and steering cap off so I'm at the right starting point, do you tighten the jubilee clip up part way, so that it is just loose enough to allow the bellows to slip over the flange? I think this is the only way it will go on.

 

[oGaryo]

I loosen them fully, get the clip over the flange and then tighten. If that doesn''t work for you, undo them completely and thread the clip around the flange and reconnect but really shouldn't be the need to do so

 

[FalconSteve]

Thanks Gary, I was very tired when I tried last Sunday, it might well be that I was only using the one brain cell :-S. Probably just needs a little finesse.

 

[Peanuts]

The way to refit the exhaust bellows is as follows (well it works for me!)

Fit bellows to engine end/transom shield, ensure bellows correctly oriented, it is marked 'engine end' and 'up' on flange of bellow, fit hose clip (jubilee clip type - trade name but everyone call them it)
Note I have not fitting the steering bolt yet so I can wiggle the outdrive later on.

Leg now installed, slight up trim, either by trim rams or block of wood under skeg, then using a piece of cord from one side of leg go under the exhaust bellow and wrap round the bellow in one of the grooves closest to the outdrive and then exit the cord out on the opposite side you originally started from, OK so far? So you should now end up with a piece of cord on one side, wrapped around the bellows and out the other side. Have enough cord so you can wrap it around each hand.

Looking at the bellows in this present position you should have the upper lip in place on the outdrive flange (the groove part) but of course due to the slight up trim there should be a gap at the bottom, holding the cord in each hand now pull down and towards yourself, this should line the bellows flange up with the outdrive flange, a bit of wiggling the outdrive whilst pulling on the cord should start the process of the fitting, once it is on then fit the clip. This is done by threading it over the top of the flange and round, easier to done rather than explain!

Hopefully this will make your life a lot easier however any further questions let me know.

All the best

Just for info normally remove/fit single handed, use a trolly jack.

 

[FalconSteve]

Hi Steve, Thanks for your reply, I hadn't thought of using string to pop around the bellows, that should make life easier