When it rains it pours PART TWO!

reneechris14

J3ff said:

got it.. yeah, going to have to get one of those 22's sooner or later.  Is there any thought on what is better to do? 2.00 ratio and 20p prop or 2.20 ratio and 22p prop? Is one way stronger/better than the other?

Same pressure and torx on the drive

J3ff

Just fyi, this aint over, no cigars yet. The helicopter noise in neutral has returned. When it's cold... sometimes isn't there after a good run (hot). 

I cannot confirm that the mechanic aligned the motor even though I've asked him to check it three times when it was out. Also not positive that he changed the gimbal either. Those two things were not written on the work order. Guess I'll have to pull her out in the next month or two and do this $hit myself. 

J3ff

I have no idea what this guy is talking about, but if you read the first post and then the last post he describes what sounds like the same thing..

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/noise-bravo-three-upper-end.84296/

Solution:

hey gents ! after adjusting the preload on the piniongear and torquing the retaining nut to specs the rattling went away , dont ask me why .

on dissasembly i noticed two things :

the preload was to loose a little bit
i had to get 200 lb in torque on the nut significantly more force than was needed to loose it . i guess it was torqued to less than 200 previously .

hopefully no more problems !

reneechris14

The pinion gear is in the top of the outdrive 

J3ff

Okay. So that can't be it. One weird thing is that before it would make this noise when it was hot, now it only makes it when it's cool. However it does go away no matter what if you turn the drive all the way to the left. 

Seems like it has to be gimbal, hate to second guess the mechanic but maybe he just didn't change it.. thinking he had found the issue in the drive. 

skennelly

You said be didn't list it as been changed in any work orders correct?  It's probably true that he didn't replace it.

PickleRick

Could the coupler on the engine be slightly off centered?   
When he aligned it did he clock it several times to be sure the guide bar slid in smooth in each position?

J3ff

I asked him to align it 3 times since moving here, and swap the gimbal, I have no idea if he actually did it. When I ask he says "yeah yeah I did" - but something is still not right here. Willing to bet if I did this myself the noise would go away. Just do not have the resources here to do this. No garage, no tools, etc. 

J3ff

One other thing. Maybe it IS possible he did switch the bearing, because it's doing the same thing as far as noise goes as last time.

At FIRST there was no noise at all.. it only came on after a few trips out and back. Maybe this points back to engine alignment... who knows. 

YYZRC

Sounds like you need to go for a boat ride with a competent mechanic. 

J3ff

YYZRC said:

Sounds like you need to go for a boat ride with a competent mechanic. 

Hard to find down here! Have put out some quiet feelers for a second opinion. . 

PickleRick

Generally in the keys you have inboards or outboards.  They seem to hate stern drives in the year long warm water.  Probably not a lot of techs down there wanting to work on them.  

You have a new leg. It has to be the engine.  Maybe an alternator or power steering pump? Maybe a tensioner/idler pulley? Maybe even a bad spot in your belt?

Id check those closely before pulling the leg again to check the gimball bearing.  If she doesn't align properly at every clocked position with adjustment I'd then took to the engine coupler.  

They can be damaged if run out of alignment too long.

I know you had some transom rebuild issues so im wondering if that could be the culprit.  They have rubber in them that could become deformed making them out of round.  

When I pulled the leg on my rinker to rebuild the transom she was slightly out of alignment.  I used a dial gauge to verify she was still true and inspected all the aluminum splines.

Still no guarantee she wasn't weakend, when are there any guarantees on a boat once she's outside her warranty period?  I try to abide by the if it's not broke dont fix it rule,  but when it comes to a boat you might as well fix anyting that looks suspect or worn while its out and easy to access otherwise it can cost you time on the water.

Seems that you go ages without much more than a few little inconveniences and regular maintenance, then the big repairs come all at once. 

You can get a gimball puller(10x better than slide hammer), the bar and install driver for all less than about 350 from Amazon and or eBay.  You can check your alignment and install a new bearing in an afternoon.