GM454 Bravo Two

"Guys,
I tried to do a search

"Guys,
I tried to do a search, so if my question is redundant, I apologize up front.

I have a 1997 Excel with a Bravo Two. Last year I had a clicking sound in the drive when turned hard SB or Port. OK when trimmed up.
Had a local shop replace the U Joint, gimbal bearing, and seals.
The noise went away,.... till now.
Had the boat out this weekend, and never heard a sound (from the drive), pulled skiers, made lots of hard turns, and again no noise. When we went to beach the boat for the night, I trimmed up and started to hear a small clatter again, trimmed up a little more, and it sounded like the ujoint was going to explode. Next morning, same noise backing off the beach, but as soon as I lowered the drive, all was good, and no noise during hard turns.
What could make such a racket at tilt, but not during the turns? Just opposite of what I had last year.
BTW, the boat shop went out of business during the winter. :-(
Bob"

Did you use the trim switch or

Did you use the trim switch or the trailer switch to bypass the trim limit switch?

"Yes, I'll admit it, I use

"Yes, I'll admit it, I use a bit of "trailer" to keep the props off the rocks. Thing is, I've done this for years and this is the first time it made this noise.

Bob"

"[b]"Yes, I'll admit i

""Yes, I'll admit it, I use a bit of "trailer" to keep the props off the rocks. Thing is, I've done this for years and this is the first time it made this noise."

Ayuh,... I would Guess it's taken this long to trash the U-joints,+ gimbel bearing..."

"It is NORMAL for the ujoints

"It is NORMAL for the ujoints and gimbal bearing to make noise when timmed up very high.

There is a lot of stress on these parts when trimmed up high.

A boat CAN be used at idle speeds or a blip of throttle if needed without doing any damage.

My advice, Stop bieng paranoid and enjoy the boat.

Unlike my new refrigerator that came with a statement saying it makes funny noises when doing things it does, A boat does not come with such a note or statement but it does makes all kinds of sounds that do not hurt or affect anything.

I run my outdrive up almost all the way manytimes when going thru a very shallow spot at my local lake and I do not pay attention to any funny noises as I understand it is under stress. Of course I only run it at idle speed.

My opinion."

"Thanks Guys,

Bondo,
New

"Thanks Guys,

Bondo,
New bearing and U joints last fall, maybe 20 Hours on them.?????

Kghost,
I'm with you. There are cables under our local fuel dock that will snag you if you have the drive down. (voice of experience). Ouch...
You can't really explore Lake Powell if you aren't willing to run a little skinny water now and then.

I would expect the slight ticking, and I have had that before, but this is really bad, loud clanking.

Oh well, I will pull the drive off next spring and see what I can find.

Bob"

"Bob

I would say that if yo

"Bob

I would say that if you are hearing a loud clanking I would definatly pull it and check it out now!!!

One of the ujoints may have failed and you DONT want it to come apart while in the water, the resulting damage would be more costly.

They are most likely sealed end caps on the ujoints and there is no telling there history even if newly installed.

Maybe you could see (if they both or one are bad) getting greasable ones put in there place as that may be a better solution but would require more maintenance.

either way I would take a look. Only takes a couple of hours. (after the boat is pulled of course.......)"