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gimbal bearing

Brian3127

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back story engine started knocking.
tore engine apart.
broken piston.
engine is getting rebuilt.
i took the out drive off to get the engine off. do i have to remove the housing from the boat to replace the gimble bearing.
 
back story engine started knocking.
tore engine apart.
broken piston.
engine is getting rebuilt.
i took the out drive off to get the engine off. do i have to remove the housing from the boat to replace the gimble bearing.

No you use a gimbal bearing puller, slide hammer, or I made a puller out of 1/2" threaded rod a big washer and a 2 x 4. The bearing is pulled out through the driveshaft bellows. If you goggle it I'm sure there are like 20 you tube videos on it.

Reach your hand in there first and turn it if it isnt rough or wasn't making noise leave it alone. If they stay dry and greased they lasy for years. Its one like 15 min to pull the drive to do it in the fututre.
 
ok thanks Dieter I just figured since I have everything pulled apart I should just replace it. I will check to see if its in good shape.
What is the average price for a new one?
 
ok thanks Dieter I just figured since I have everything pulled apart I should just replace it. I will check to see if its in good shape.
What is the average price for a new one?

One of the best things about this site is the parts drawings- type your serial number in here -http://www.marineengine.com/parts/mercruiser-stern-drive/index.php

will give separate breakdowns ofr engine serial, tansom serial and drive serial.

Not usre what you are working on but here is a alpha one gen 2 gimbal housing - the bearing is #9 you can see aftermarket and OEM pricing.

http://www.marineengine.com/parts/m...995/0d469859-thru-0f679999-usa/gimbal-housing
 
Just my opinion…. When I pulled my lower units I replaced bearings and all bellows just to be sure they were good for a long future. You will need an alignment tool to line everything back up after installing engine and bearing.
 
by the way i have a 3.0 mercruiser 130hp

my sons boss has the alignment tool that we can borrow. we bought the boat about a year and a half ago and the previous owner said that he had them replace that spring. how long should the bellows be trusted before replacing them.
 
by the way i have a 3.0 mercruiser 130hp

my sons boss has the alignment tool that we can borrow. we bought the boat about a year and a half ago and the previous owner said that he had them replace that spring. how long should the bellows be trusted before replacing them.

in fresh water very long time. My boat is a 2004 and im just replacing them this winter. Exhaust bellow had torn , driveshaft bellows and shift still intact.
 
That is good to hear. we only have fresh water around us. Michigan.
i have watched videos on changing the bellows. It doesn't look fun at all.
 
I usually change mine when I first see small cracks developing; last one I changed was 11 years old. When I had it off I could see that the rubber was getting stiff compared to a new one. I can’t say on the Alpha but on my OMC Cobra I removed the bell housing (OMC called that the pivot housing) because then you can make sure the end of the bellows is properly clamped onto the gimble housing. On the Cobra it’s a pretty easy job.
 
That is good to hear. we only have fresh water around us. Michigan.
i have watched videos on changing the bellows. It doesn't look fun at all.

I don't think its terrible if you like wrenching on things. I don't golf so taking stuff apart and fixing it is how I relax...

Lou's advice is good sound just inspect it. I saw some scuff wear on the side of my driveshaft bellows I think from the gimbal ring and I needed to replace my trim sender as well so better to do it during the winter vs during the short summer season. I suspect it will be a 6 pk job...
 
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I don't think its terrible if you like wrenching on things. I don't golf so taking stuff apart and fixing it is how I relax...

Lou's advice is good sound just inspect it. I saw some scuff wear on the side of my driveshaft bellows I think from the gimbal ring and I needed to replace my trim sender as well so better to do it during the winter vs during the short summer season. I suspect it will be a 6 pk job...


I'm the same way I like wrenching. Like I said in the first post I'm rebuilding the engine after we get it back from the machine shop. I cant wait to start on that.

Thanks for all the help guys
 
I'm the same way I like wrenching. Like I said in the first post I'm rebuilding the engine after we get it back from the machine shop. I cant wait to start on that.

Thanks for all the help guys

If you haven't spend some time trying to determine why the piston broke. Do you know if it was related to detonation? If it was make sure you solve that issue otherwise you risk destroying the rebuild.
 
If you haven't spend some time trying to determine why the piston broke. Do you know if it was related to detonation? If it was make sure you solve that issue otherwise you risk destroying the rebuild.

Ayuh,.... Ditto,...... Don't wanta destroy yer new motor,.....
 
I'm thinking it was not timed correctly.
me and my son couldn't get the engine to go into base time to set the timing so we left it alone. At idle it would run rough but with some throttle it smoothed out.
I have a new ignition module that we will be using so hopefully we can set the timing correctly.
 
I'm thinking it was not timed correctly.
me and my son couldn't get the engine to go into base time to set the timing so we left it alone. At idle it would run rough but with some throttle it smoothed out.
I have a new ignition module that we will be using so hopefully we can set the timing correctly.

First - what engine is this ? Yes if you had too much total advance this can also lead to detonation. What did the piston top look like? hard to tell from the photo what the skirt broke due to. Even if you cant get it in base mode you can set it by the total advance at 2800 -3k rpms. You need an advance timing light or timing tape on your balancer to do this. Depending on what year and engine you have you would end up with about 24-30 degrees total. ann

Also be good to look at the plugs see if they look lean.
 
First - what engine is this ? Yes if you had too much total advance this can also lead to detonation. What did the piston top look like? hard to tell from the photo what the skirt broke due to. Even if you cant get it in base mode you can set it by the total advance at 2800 -3k rpms. You need an advance timing light or timing tape on your balancer to do this. Depending on what year and engine you have you would end up with about 24-30 degrees total. ann

Also be good to look at the plugs see if they look lean.

1985 mercruiser 3.0
i dont have the old parts right now they are all at the machine shop
 
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