Mercruiser alpha one drive zooming noise when turning

[Dutchlarson]

Hello all,

I have the following problem. Recently i purchased a '03 Larson 210lxi

I had some hours of fun with it, but this morning i noticed some white stuff on top of my drive oil in the reservoir. (The transparant reservoir had only 0.5'' of oil left, and on top of that there was at least 3'' of white sludge on top)

I called a technician, and he told me it wasnt a problem so i went on the water.

After a while i noticed that my drive made a noise when making a turn. Trimming up or down didnt make any difference.

What should i do?

 

[littlerayray]

Did you check the power steering fluid

 

[tpenfield]

Time to check the oil in the outdrive and maybe even pull the outdrive for inspection.

 

[alldodge]

Hello all,

I have the following problem. Recently i purchased a '03 Larson 210lxi

I had some hours of fun with it, but this morning i noticed some white stuff on top of my drive oil in the reservoir. (The transparant reservoir had only 0.5'' of oil left, and on top of that there was at least 3'' of white sludge on top)

I called a technician, and he told me it wasnt a problem so i went on the water.

After a while i noticed that my drive made a noise when making a turn. Trimming up or down didnt make any difference.

What should i do?

White foam stuff in the bottle and the technician said it was not a problem. First that is a problem and second that guy is no technician, he/she is a two bit piece of crud and never see them again. You might just have some drive problems now

Sorry but this guy considers them self a "Technician " :rant:

 

[Faztbullet]

U-joint bellow is bad. When it fills with water it damages u-joints and gimbal bearing and it also allow water into upper drive oil thru vacuum of the unit.

 

[Alumarine]

It could be the ujoints or gimbal bearing making noise as well.
When you pull the drive you can inspect them.

 

[Dutchlarson]

Brought it to my dealer. They pulled the drive and there was water in it, but also still much oil. There was a seal bad so they replaced that. They said the drive was opened to replace it, and everything looked good inside.

Now its in the water again but it still vibrating a bit when in low rpm. When i steer to the right it makes some noise. Like a low zooming or growling. Steering fluid was also ok

 

[tpenfield]

the outdrives will growl a bit on a hard turn . . . it is best to keep the rpm near idle speeds when turning the outdrive to near the limit.

 

[Dutchlarson]

Its not when i turn near the limit. Its already when i start stearing. the vibration is also when i dont steer.

 

[alldodge]

Its not when i turn near the limit. Its already when i start stearing. the vibration is also when i dont steer.

You need to find another shop to do work for you, because they have very little knowledge on the issue. They sated everything look good inside, I will bet they didn't take much of anything apart. A visual inspection if even done will do little without checking with the proper tools.

My guess is at least there is an issue with the bearings. It does not take long for water to damage a race. You may even have an issue with u joints or gimbal has mentioned by marc c.

Also just a note: this needs to be moved to mercruiser section and out of the mercury/mariner outboard area

 

[Dutchlarson]

Hi All,

A while ago since i last posted something. But in the winter i brought the boat to a well known Mercruiser dealer in the neighborhood. He pulled the drive and took it apart till the last screw. Everything was old and rusted, so he advised me to let him do a complete overhaul.

So i spent 3k (in ?) so thats around 3500 dollars i think.

Yesterday i went for a first run (here in the Netherlands it was the first summer-ish day) and still have the same problem. The vibration when running slow is gone now, however when i turn the steering wheel it starts making a loud grinding noise.

It does not make a noise when running idle, or at very very slow speed. But when i am a bit on speed or up it starts doing it when i steer to both ways, and i can feel it trough the whole boat.

Anybody got ideas?

 

[alldodge]

Wow, your first guy that looked at it (post 7) said everything looked good inside. The dealer said everything was rusted and it cost 3500 to fix. Here in it would cost 1500 for a new SEI drive. Either way you have sure had some real trouble with this.

Did the dealer have the boat or just the drive? Reason for asking, I would assume that if they had the boat they would have checked the gimbal bearing. Have you asked the dealer about the vibration?

 

[Dutchlarson]

I brought the whole boat. As i am not so technical i just said: This is my problem and please fix it everything you think is bad. I just want to have a good reliable boat next season.



Called him this morning, and he told me he would have to talk to his mechanic and get back to me.

 

[Dutchlarson]

He just called back, he says the outdrive cant have any problem anymore as everything is replaced including the gimbal and u-joints.

He guesses it must be the outlining of the engine and outdrive, he has no other idea..

 

[Dutchlarson]

Anybody got an idea about this?

Would it be the engine - outdrive alignment or something else?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Simple answer is yes, something else. Anything in the drive train. Engine must be aligned perfectly, no water in the bellows, condition of U-Joints must be perfect. Did they replace the u-joints? Gimbal? Make certain of alignment before install?

 

[Dutchlarson]

U-joints and bellows were both replaced.

I think they did not check the alignment before install. It certainly makes the same noise as before i brought it.

 

[alldodge]

If they did do an alignment (which they should have) then the engine coupler would not be the issue. If they did replace the gimbal bearing and U-joints, and did a quality job rebuilding the drive, then there should be no vibration.

The guys over in your area either don't know how to fix a drive or they don't care. To find out for your self do this.

With the boat on the trailer, bring drive all the up. Now reach in between the drive and there is a small rubber hose going into the lower half of the drive. Turn the plastic fitting 90 degrees and pull the fitting out with the hose attached.


Now lower the drive all the way down and then bump it up just slightly. This will release tension on the hydraulic cylinders.

Place shifter in full forward position.

All nuts are 5/8 inch and a standard 5/8 spark plug socket works great with a 3/8 drive ratchet and 12 inch extension.

Remove the two nuts on the rear end of the two hydraulic cylinders and pull pin out of drive

Now loosen the 6 5/8 nuts which hold the drive on the bellhousing.



The drive weights about 80 lb (36 Kg). Put a block of wood under the skeg and pull the drive off the bellhousiing.

Lay the drive down. Now look inside at the gimbal bearing. It should look clean with maybe some grease on it. Reach in with your fingers into the inside of the bearing and rotate it. The movement should feel real smooth. The bearing should be all the way back against the rear of the transom assembly. If it looks good, take a pic and post.

Now look at your u-joints. Move the joints in all directions, they should move real smooth and easy and have no gritty feeling or any play what so ever.

Rotate the drive shaft, it should turn easy enough and no grit. Do the same thing with the prop.

Let us know what you find

 

[Dutchlarson]

Well, thanks for the advice but my dealer will have to do that. My technical skills go as far as turning the key in the ignition. Just talked to him again, and i will have to bring the boat and he will pull the outdrive.

He still thinks it is the alignment of the engine and the outdrive.

However i called 2 other dealers and they said if there would be an alignment problem, it would be making noise and vribration also when running straight. That's not the case, when i run it straight ahead it sounds fine.

 

[Dutchlarson]

Brought it back to the dealer, and he thinks it would be the bell-house bearing, or some gears.

Any thougts on that?