canceled my launch date

GMSLITHO

I could use some advice  I  just  bought the boat last year   well cleaning the drive up for paint  I noticed there was a lot of back and forth movement in the gimbal ring is it possible its just the ring and not the pin or is that just wishful thinking.because the ring is the only thing that looks worn from what I can see from outside I see they sell a stainless ring and shaft for $1,000( OEM Original same price )  and when its apart bearing bellows and cable kit $250 plus the trim sensors they don't work now  haven't checked that price yet ….also   the kit from Hill Marine to cut the hole . so add some beer ice and when there is a job like this you need to buy more tools so maybe  $1600??? if Im  lucky and 2 more weeks on a trailer ..any advice would help       So now editing this post I hit the bearing down around the sides with a piece of oak it lined up much better looks like I just have to raise the front up maybe one flat      

skennelly

Yep wishful thinking your gimbal ring is probably shot.  Its a common problem.

Ian

The ring is the expensive part, not the pin. Don;t forget to make sure the oil seal is included or purchased. My bellows and cable were done not too long ago so when I did mine last year, I was careful and didn't need to replace. The senders I did though.

Be ready for a b*&^h of a job but you save labor $$$ and learn new words.

GMSLITHO

the ring dosent look to bad …...cutting the hole for the pin I don't like 

rasbury

So, doing all this stuff right now as others will attest. If your going to tackle this yourself, there are a minimum of a couple of tools you will need. One to align the bearing you should replace. The others, to get the ring that goes into the end of the bellows, neither very expensive on eBay. As far as the pin goes, I bought one off eBay, SS for 60 bucks with shipping. My bellows kit came from sierra, 300 bucks for that. Also on the steering pin is a seal. I would check first the torque on the u bolt that goes around the steering pin- gimbal ring may be fine. Hard to imagine water pouring in from the steering pin from what I have learned thus far. My leaking issue, which water was pouring in, seems to be the main seal on the gimbal. Motor pulled, out drive off\ very tuff getting some things apart. EBay is your best friend along with you tube and this forum. Not for the faint of heart job but pretty expensive if you can't handle it. My worse fear was a rotted transom- comforting to see my 270 was sealed pretty well and does not seem to be the issue, hope the same for you. Read through mime- made about every mistake possible but I'm getting there.

reneechris14

Did you try tighten the u bolt on the top of the ring. I had a little wiggle in one drive on my 342 half a turn last year and still good now. Just checked today and nice and tight.

GMSLITHO

 tried to tighten the u bolt it was a little loose I torqued it to 45 # specked to 50 # didn't want to push it ….but it made no difference 

reneechris14

Well worth a try.

GMSLITHO

any thoughts on a stainless replacement …..something else will give before that will just thinking what and I don't think it will wear like the original 

craigswardmtb

I thought about the stainless as well but didn't like the idea of more dissimilar metals in a salt environment. The bravos are already corrosion prone as is.  So I went with the merc ring. 

GMSLITHO

I’m in a lake now and trailer to the Hudson river sometimes that’s brackish 

rasbury

Whether it is steel or SS steel I don't think a difference. Another thing I have been advised to do especially while apart is to add a grease fitting- pretty crazy that such a wear area has no way to lubricate and hold back the corrosion.

GMSLITHO

where do you add the grease 

Ian

GMSLITHO said:

the ring dosent look to bad …...cutting the hole for the pin I don't like 

How do you know? Unless you pull it you can't see the square hole the pin sits in and the wear of either of them. 

How much slack side to side?

GMSLITHO

I meant the ring dosent look to hard to replace Im just a little leery about cutting the hole in the top  Lots of side to side slack maybe 4 to 5 inches and some up and down movement 

rasbury

There is no where to add grease...I'm going to add a fitting to the front of the gimbal so I can shoot grease into it..not sure why Merc did not do that. You have a little seal at the bottom of the pin to keep the water out...figure keeping grease in there will help also if it gets past the seal. I am not an expert on this pin replacement, I would say from how it is put together, if you have a lot of side to side then the gimbal ring is the problem and not the pin- if it is not moving side to side and you have a leak, it would be the pin and a bad seal. If you have seen the pin, where it sits in the gimbal ring is square, where the u bolt fits it is round- the square peg keeps it in place and it turns around that u bolt and is metal to metal contact. I suppose it can wear but sure hard to imagine wearing to the point your talking about- I would suspect the square portion has wallered out the gimbal ring and that is what will have to be replaced. Will certainly follow this and see how you end up! To replace the ring without doing the cut out job you will have to pull the motor to get the pin out. Different opinions on here about cutting that top apart and putting a plate on there.....

GMSLITHO

Got a rough phone estimate from a local marina ball park $3,000 ........and the weather is about to break here now so the job might not get done in a timely manner and the 3 or 4 thousand is also a big nut .I brought a pallet jack home from work and it worked like a charm got the drive off bellows off and the water hose out in less than a beer .just ordered the $80 worth of tools to remove and assemble The rest  .Ras don’t take this the wrong way but I hope mine doesn’t get as involved as your job

reneechris14

Well that drive did come with that boat and you can tell your in freash water.

GMSLITHO

Actually just bought the drive last year the P.O. had it stolen from the marina he got the insurance money and took it off my purchase price ,so it ended up good for both of us ,it’s a shame it looks like the gimbal bearing ,bellows and shift are recently replaced 

GMSLITHO

Thanks I did some checking I could go all stainless pin and ring or a stainless pin and new factory Merc replacement both around $1000 or if the one on the boat is not cracked I could have it reconditioned  about $250 to $350 

GMSLITHO

Is it from the water movement where the boat is docked moving the drive back and forth I’ve also read if your in that type of currents one wake  turn the wheel to one side and tie it off 

GMSLITHO

here is what I ordered for the job plus $80 for some special tools you need and $80 for the kit to cut the access hole ,any tips or tricks or advice would be appriciated 

thepriceisright

Speaking of gimbals... just heard back from my
mechanic. New ring and bearing are in. He had to do the work over because the ring had a defect from Quicksilver, and he had to take the whole thing apart and do it over. 

GMSLITHO

Ive always just painted the drive in the past with rustoleum paint on my OMC drive and held up pretty good for the season ,the housing on the drive now is missing a lot of the paint and down to the metal.has anyone on here used this primer in the past Thanks 

aero3113

Yes, I just painted my drive with it. Works well.

GMSLITHO

Thanks 

GMSLITHO

Got it off only snag had to cut and drill the bottom pin 

GMSLITHO

Took  about 3 hours to take out the steering rod the stainless pin was frozen to the assembly couldn’t use heat or bang on it   Got the gimbal bearing in with the alignment tool it looks like the motor is way out could it have been that way I repulled  the bearing because I thought it might not have been seated In all the way is it possible it could have been that far out . It’s a shame all the stuff I just pulled out with the exception of the trim sensors looks new 

GMSLITHO

That the one I took out the new one is greaseless it also came with a set screw to replace the grease fitting this is the new one 

GMSLITHO

I had to cut the top of the housing to get access to the swivel pin it’s a kit from jr machine 

GMSLITHO

Got to post this it’s a puller cost $3  it’s two foot  threaded rod  4 washers  4 nuts and a 2.5 weight slide the rod inside the boat go inside and add the washers and 2 nuts and lock them together outside slide on the weight and two washers tighten against the carrier and hold the end of the rod with a vice grip when it bottoms out your almost out back off the nut and use the weight as a slap hammer     Worked great