Video - Too much side to side play?

[gnealon]

Guys... I just took my boat out of the water today :smt089 and had a question for you all. While scrapping the billion barnacles off my out drive i noticed my port OD has more play in it than the starboard. Ive read a million posts on CSR about play in the out drive and how bad that can be. I recorded a video for you all to see. I apologize, its 11MB. I hope most people have high speed internet. I'll try to shrink it if I can.

http://www.gerardnealon.com/Pics/CSR/side_play.avi

In case my profile doesn't have it listed, the OD is a BIII.

Thanks everyone. :thumbsup:

 

[tbirdvet]

How many hours on the drives? Looks like gimbal bearing may be worn causing excessive side to side play.

 

[Quint4]

I can't see the video but you should not have any movement. Does the steering wheel move when you move the outdrive?...it should. This is not gimbal bearing wear, it is caused by "rounding" of the top of the gimbal ring where the swivel shaft penetrates.
There are two bolts at top of gimbal ring that need to be kept torqued to 55ft lbs. to maintain a tight "squeeze" on the swivel shaft and prevent the "rounding" out of this area and resultant "slop" in steering.

 

[Henry Boyd]

In general I would agree with Quint4. The easiest way to tell is to move the drive like you have in your video, and watch the top pin. If the inner ring turns with the pin staying stationary, you have a case of dreaded ring wear due to loss of torque of the u bolt. You might want to see Quint4's excellent post from this spring that outlines the repair process.

You also should check to see if there is any play in the steering linkage. There is no adjustment, but sometimes the cable housing backs off and creates some steering slop. I doubt this is the case because your stbd side is ok.

If it is the top pin it is a b-atch of a job regardless of the repair approach. But the parts bill is the worst - about 60% if you go the new ring and pin approach! I went through it this past spring and while the end result was great, it was painful!

Henry

 

[Larry]

It is not your gimbal bearing, listen to Quint4 and Henry...

Good luck!

 

[gnealon]

Thanks guys for all your advice. Is this a common thing for a 2005? Is it possible I hit something or did something wrong? I only have 175 hrs on the boat. Just bought it this year.

I am not 100% sure if the wheel turns while i move the drive, i will definitely check that next time.

I'll report back soon w/ my info. :smt009

 

[gnealon]

Ohh i forgot to ask, is a little movement in the drive definitely something I need to take care of ASAP? What's the rule of thumb w/ this problem?? If I push it off do I risk blowing the entire drive? Is it more of a nuisance in just slopping steering? I did not notice a single thing all season. It wasn't until i pulled it out did i see slop on the port side. I'd just assume leave it if it didn't bother me unless i risk further damage. Then I'd just fix it. thx again.

 

[Quint4]

"There are two bolts at top of gimbal ring that need to be kept torqued to 55ft lbs. to maintain a tight "squeeze" on the swivel shaft"

Back off nuts and re-torque.Torque both sides and keep an eye on it. Must be torqued every 50 hrs or so. Once it gets a little slop in it, it will probably progressively worsen.

 

[gnealon]

"There are two bolts at top of gimbal ring that need to be kept torqued to 55ft lbs. to maintain a tight "squeeze" on the swivel shaft"

Back off nuts and re-torque.Torque both sides and keep an eye on it. Must be torqued every 50 hrs or so. Once it gets a little slop in it, it will probably progressively worsen.

Ohh sweet... so hopefully I can just re tighten them? I had no idea they needed to be re-torqued every 50 hrs. Thanks a lot! I'll give that a try. Easy fix if that does it.

 

[gnealon]

Hey Quint - I remembered reading this somewhere and found it.

http://www.sterndrives.com/steering_play.html

They said to NEVER tighten the retainer bolts to eliminate free play. Are you saying it OK to do b/c I am loosening first and not exceeding 55ft pounds? Just double checking... thx for all the help so far.

 

[JediJD]

"Damage, Injury or Death can result from gimbal ring failure."

Sounds like a dangerous damn gimbal ring. If I didn't kinda like my MIL, I would let her take a look at it.

 

[KHARRIMAN]

FYI- My port engine has a small amount of play as well. While my strbd. has none whatsoever. I can't see your vid. but here's what I did. Have someone move the drive side to side while you jam your head back there and see if you can see where the slop is. On mine there was absolutely no slop in the gimbal housing or bearing pin that i could see. If you look along the steering linkage that turns the drives simultaneously you will see that going from left to right (stbd. to Port) first the rod is connected to the stbd engine then there are some threads and a nut and then the rod continues on to the stbd drive. MY slop was located in that nut/threaded assembly. Sorry but I still haven't figured out how to fix, that nut does NOT want to turn, maybe someone else could say how to adjust, I'll take a Pic tomarrow.
Good luck
--Kevin

 

[Henry Boyd]

This is one of those things that even a small amount of looseness in the u-bolt results in distortion of the pin socket very quickly. Basically big SS pin with 1" square head wobbling around in an aluminum socket. Even the smallest amount of free play results in big distortion to the ring socket. That is why it can happen newer low hour boats, as easily as oldsters.

Re-torquing the u-bolt is a hail Mary in the classic case. But you must back the nuts off first! This is where you say, "But I've been told to never back off bolts when r-torquing!", and I say, "Yes, when re-torquing heads!". You don't back off head nuts because doing so causes the head gasket to turn to ****e. No gasket in this case, so back off the u-bolt nuts to get a true torque, and avoid the risk of snapping the stems of the u-bolt off.

You have nothing else to lose. If it works go immediately to the nearest convenience store and buy $ 20 of scratch lottery tickets because it is your lucky day.

Even if the ring is shot, the drive is not going to fall out of the boat. However, control of the boat becomes unpredictable, particularly in a following sea when the waves are coming up on your stern. That is where it gets dangerous. My guess (from thinking it through and not experience) is that this is a case where twins might be a liability. A single, as I know exhibits squirrelly behavior all the time. A boat with twins may seem ok, because the good drive is keeping things in line, until something happens to make one drive want to go east while the oher is gong west. Long story short, fix the thing before it gets worse.

If you have a shop do the work, it is a b-atch of a job for either way its done, so be kind to your techs. This is one of those times when you might consider buying pizza for the shop the day they do your boat.

Henry

 

[Quint4]

Page 1b-3 of my Mercruiser Bravo Service manual advises to re-torque the "Gimbal ring clamping screws" once a year or every 100 hrs. I tried to cut and paste it into this reply but it would not work properly. It does say 40ft lbs in one location and references 50-55ft lbs in several other locations throughout the manual. I have heard the 50-55lbs referenced on the net so that is what I use when re-torquing.

 

[Henry Boyd]

When I did mine this spring we found that the replacement gimbal ring from Mercruiser has a larger sized u-bolt than the one in my 2002 original. That may explain the difference in torque specs.

I was told by the fellow at JRMarine that the cause of the problem is that the u-bolt stretches over time and allows the top of the ring to lose clamping force. I can't say whether he was right, or not. But the larger u-bolt on the replacement ring certainly suggests it. The JRMarine u-bolt by the way is made of a stronger SS to prevent stretching.

Henry