She's makin a new noise captain' !!

J3ff

....

212rowboat

gimbal bearing?  
there is a zerk on the shaft visible behind the coupler housing... hit it with some grease and see what happens?  

rasbury

I can't really here anything other than a motor running...

J3ff

212rowboat said:

gimbal bearing?  
there is a zerk on the shaft visible behind the coupler housing... hit it with some grease and see what happens?  

Oh yeah? That was the first question I asked the local Merc guy here and he said that the B3 didn't have one.. that's #1 on the list. 

rasbury

Later bearings are sealed...when I re did mine it was set up for the zert which I prefer...

zaverin1

Bearing or u joints 
also could be the upper drive gear set

aero3113

Does the noise change if you raise or lower the drive?

J3ff

Noise doesn't change unless you give it some gas. 

Have raised and lowered, turned left and right, same noise. I can't really tell but the noise seems to stay the same even when rpm increases, it doesn't get louder or anything. 

Anyone have a diagram on how to get to this zerk fitting? 

Willhound

Is it the same in or out of gear?

J3ff

yes, it's the same in or out of gear. 

Willhound

Oddly enough, mine started doing the same this year. Sounds like a small train chugging. Was thinking it was the addition of the new swim platform trapping exhaust noise but now I wonder. The noise is definitely at the back if the block so I thought drive train also. My gimbal is also new last year. Same in or out of gear .

randy56

I could not hear anything, this is the best picture I could find. Of greasing the gimble  You will have to lay on the engine, looking down at the rear . where the red arrow is pointing. There are two fitting on them. If ya get one of them greased good that should tell you if that is your problem.

zaverin1

Might have to bump the engine few times to get good attack angle on the zerks

J3ff

Willhound said:

Oddly enough, mine started doing the same this year. Sounds like a small train chugging. Was thinking it was the addition of the new swim platform trapping exhaust noise but now I wonder. The noise is definitely at the back if the block so I thought drive train also. My gimbal is also new last year. Same in or out of gear .

Yup, perfect description, I can tell you that mine has never made that noise till a few days ago... and it is def not normal.

J3ff

randy56 said:

I could not hear anything, this is the best picture I could find. Of greasing the gimble  You will have to lay on the engine, looking down at the rear . where the red arrow is pointing. There are two fitting on them. If ya get one of them greased good that should tell you if that is your problem.

Thank you, will be attempting this soon! 

Willhound

This is my sound. Second video you can hear it better.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8QJRjndJRB4WuDEcA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mky7zddJGmHRKE2W6

reneechris14

striped coppler but those are zert

J3ff

Willhound said:

This is my sound. Second video you can hear it better.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8QJRjndJRB4WuDEcA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mky7zddJGmHRKE2W6

That is the exact same noise.   The chugging sound hasn't been there in 2.5 years of use. 

J3ff

reneechris14 said:

striped coppler but those are zert

Thanks for the pic, I may have to go buy a grease gun with a flexible tube, I went for the cheap one with a metal tube last time. 

212rowboat

The kick in the teeth is when you finally get on it and then realize you don't have room to pump it in.... Get a pneumatic one. 

aero3113

Make sure you use the correct coupler grease not the gimbal bearing grease.

J3ff

It really doesn't make sense that it would be the coupler... I found another post on club sea ray where Merc replaced his entire outdrive, which did no solve the problem. In the end he said "The gimbal bearing was just tearing up the transom plate." So they replaced the transom assembly.. sure hope that isn't my problem here! 

ordering this now: https://www.harborfreight.com/air-grease-gun-219.html

Liberty44140

The outer zerk on the B3 was eliminated so you won’t have that anymore. That was for the gimbal bearing which is now sealed. But as drew said there is still 1-2 zerks on the coupler in the engine room that still need greased each year. 

212rowboat

https://www.marineengine.com/newparts/part_details.php?pnum=SIE18-21006

but it's most likely the seal that is bad... 

#9 on this list: https://www.marineengine.com/parts/mercruiser-sterndrive-parts/bravo-three/0f730000-thru-0m100000/gimbal-housing

causing the gimbal to roar.  

aero3113

You can buy a pistol style grease gun, this way you don’t have to worry about using air.

rasbury

@212rowboat why would that seal cause a noise? I guess the gun I bought must be a pistol type? It has a pretty long hose...harbor freight I think..

Willhound

J3ff said:

It really doesn't make sense that it would be the coupler... I found another post on club sea ray where Merc replaced his entire outdrive, which did no solve the problem. In the end he said "The gimbal bearing was just tearing up the transom plate." So they replaced the transom assembly.. sure hope that isn't my problem here! 

ordering this now: https://www.harborfreight.com/air-grease-gun-219.html

@reneechris14 thanks for the pic. Didn't know those were there, always thought the coupler was sealed. @J3ff I don't know about you but I'll certainly give it a try. Your post above is worst case scenario but I don't think we're there yet. Throw some grease at it.

rasbury

All the things being looked at would be RPM sensitive right? You said it does not make a difference if you idle it up....failing coupler would not make a noise, it would just go right? Plus you have a new motor don't you? Gimbal would growl but I would think you would hear a difference if you rev it up.....how many hours on the out drive.....? Clutch in your out drive? Any other accessories ( can't think of what) back there that could be running/failing?

212rowboat

Ras, the seal likely allowed infiltration which caused the bearing to foul.  The sound being a "flat" spot in the bearing itself.  It could be its just simply the bearings time, too, though.. 

The locomotive descript is a good one, but more like a whoosh than a chug.  I greased it after isolating it, and I didnt even know there was a zert there prior, but... Akin to a lawnmower stopping butt cold when you hit something the blades cant cut, so did the boat engine when I passed over a certain trim range... I guess the gimbal bearing simply seized at that point and it was just too much drag on the engine at that point.  It would run just fine with the leg all the way down.  I swapped the bearing and never jad a problem again (and always grease that zert too, now, at least once a year or every 20 hours). 

RustyS

We launched my buddy's SeaRay back on Memorial Day weekend and he heard almost the exact same noise. As he was coming out of the straps and pulling away the noise was very evident. He pinpointed it to the Port drive/motor.

Pulled the boat back out and while in the straps and on land we put muffs on each motor and started them. I put my ear directly on the upper gearcase as we thought the worse. After comparing each motor/drive the level of noise coming from each appeared to be equal.

Keep in mind the level of noise from exhaust minimizes any noise without an ear directly on the surface....

Put my ear to the transom plate and the difference in noise was very evident; the Port transom was MUCH louder, and had that train sound.

We blocked the boat; pulled the drive; changed the gimbal and put boat back in water and noise was gone. Definitely not the noise you would typically hear from a bad gimbal bearing and no difference with turning, drive up/down, etc. Same noise all the time....

Other background is this entire transom housing assembly was brand new 2 years ago.

This was a sealed gimbal bearing (the newer transom assemblies don't even have the holes for the zerk). Seems to me the grease-able bearings have a much longer lifespan but it could be argued the grease tube is a weak point allowing water to enter.

Just thought I would share the experience as I feel that is your problem. Good Luck!

J3ff

RustyS said:

We launched my buddy's SeaRay back on Memorial Day weekend and he heard almost the exact same noise. As he was coming out of the straps and pulling away the noise was very evident. He pinpointed it to the Port drive/motor.

Pulled the boat back out and while in the straps and on land we put muffs on each motor and started them. I put my ear directly on the upper gearcase as we thought the worse. After comparing each motor/drive the level of noise coming from each appeared to be equal.

Keep in mind the level of noise from exhaust minimizes any noise without an ear directly on the surface....

Put my ear to the transom plate and the difference in noise was very evident; the Port transom was MUCH louder, and had that train sound.

We blocked the boat; pulled the drive; changed the gimbal and put boat back in water and noise was gone. Definitely not the noise you would typically hear from a bad gimbal bearing and no difference with turning, drive up/down, etc. Same noise all the time....

Other background is this entire transom housing assembly was brand new 2 years ago.

This was a sealed gimbal bearing (the newer transom assemblies don't even have the holes for the zerk). Seems to me the grease-able bearings have a much longer lifespan but it could be argued the grease tube is a weak point allowing water to enter.

Just thought I would share the experience as I feel that is your problem. Good Luck!

Well that part is interesting. Seems like the two of us in this thread have 2 year old gbearings and now your friend did too. 

So the question now moves on to if it'll run through the 4th of july or not. That's all I really need it to do.