drive oil in the bellows - Bravo 3
craigswardmtb
Member Posts: 1,015 ✭✭✭
Last season I noticed a tiny bit of drive oil in my Ujoint bellow and for some reason didn't think much of it. Well this spring the mechanic was checking the alignment and when they pulled the drive there was a lot of drive oil in the bellow. It turns out the Ujoint yoke seal was leaking. When they pulled the Ujoint/drive shaft out of the drive the yoke had some obvious wear and a groove in it. This no doubt would cause seal failure. However I'm curious where and why there was a groove on this "yoke", any ideas? The seal obviously caused the groove but it makes me think something is not aligned right. The mechanic plans to replace the yoke seal, an oring, the yoke, and that first Ujoint the yoke attaches too. He mentioned I could replace just the yoke and skip the Ujoint, but its safer to buy the whole assembly, as then you don't have to worry about bearing contamination. It was an extra $180 in parts, which I felt was cheap insurance, so I told him to go for it. Does this sound right, or was this guy blowing smoke on his recommendation? This is a new mechanic to me.
They are trying to get this wrapped up before Friday so I can launch Friday afternoon. Fingers crossed.
Comments
No disrespect to your tech but I have a story of a very big manufacturer and my friend watched a factory employee "hammer" an alignment tool in. He asked the guy if he was nuts and my friend's tour was ended.
The engine alignment tool should slide in and out with two fingers and no heavy push/pull. I have done this personally with both my engines twice.
I have also seen other guys smacking an engine alignment tool into place with a 2x4 and saying "yeah, it's aligned"... actually no it's not - at least properly.
Here's a problem - if an engine has been out of alignment and worn in its connected drive train equipment in at that position (misalignment) and it is suddenly aligned properly it can bugg*r up the whole chain of drive components.
Likewise, IMO, if worn equipment is being replaced I might favor replacing it all - after an alignment check, so that all parts mate properly.
My respectfully offered 2 cents worth.
A few common things that cause shaft wear:
dirt/debris at the seal lip - acts like a grinder
low oil level - seal runs dry
poor / improper installation
shaft surface hardness too low (heat treatment issue at manufacturing)
vibration
PC BYC, Holland, MI
I don't like any of those options... :-)
The mechanic didn't have a lot to say as to the why, other than these things just wear out sometimes. He did mention low oil level, but this has never occurred while I have owned the boat.
Alto to MT, I didn't watch the mechanic check the alignment, but he did say it slid in effortlessly. The guy has a good rep from the folks at this marina, where there are lots of Merc's. So i'll be optimistic to his truthfulness as this point.
Paul
now, retracting the tool ought not take a lot of force- but it does require a closed hand on it... the grease marks don't lie- equal depth and no smear, and it's good... and, it is precisely where you say- the gimbal grabs it.
I spent about three or four minutes aligning my engine last year (the v6), but spent at least three or four hours aligning the one in there now. it is maddening doing it by yourself- in the boat, out of the boat, in the boat turn from 9o'clock to 11, try it again...
the sole reason I can offer for qualifying your (and my) position, is that I took it out of front high to front low a quarter turn of the mount seats at a time... slowly the depth in the grease marks swapped polarity and then it started taking some force to insert it...
furthermore- whomever offered that the engine mounts should be matching distance off the base is out of their minds... my port side is about three threads higher than the starboard to maintain that perfect grease track... this may be because the gimbal ring is not attached to the transom square (maybe accounts for the boats strange tracking at idle speeds?), but it's not important enough to me to measure, and a likely impossibility to make right without major effort and motion...
@frenchship, I have used that alignment tool on many Mercruiser engines: my 1996 350 Mag, my 2011 350 Mag, my 2013 twin 350 Mags and my 2014 twin 502 Mags - but - I didn't have to use force. On every one the tool went in nicely with a very slight effort.
BTW did Mercruiser tell you to rotate the engine 90 degress and do it again . The "genius" I talked to about that said no.
But wait, it could have been the same guy who, last summer, had us disassemble the water pump on my new port 502 Mag engine when we were telling him it was the water pressure sender. Then he suggested the reading was off on the Starboard engine and we should disassemble the water pump on that side.
He was on the phone "hot line" for Mercury technicians - should have known his business, right? At that point I hung up on him.
We replaced the water pressure sensor on the Port engine $20 and change. At least Mercury paid for all the work LOL
My experience had taught me if you have to use a lot of force on that alignment tool something is wrong.
Yes the grease will be equally imprinted - but it won't be equally imprinted if the tool binds even slightly and requires force.
I love Mercury products but if I had a dollar for every time I got a B.S. answer from their technical support......
What I did after I was satisfied the alignment was right, is insert the tool and seat it, and then push it up, down, right, left- and then carefully extracted it... I have to do this several times to make sure it comes out without bumping the gimbal and making me do it again because it skewed my grease marks.
Paul.