Hi all! At the end of last season I started to hear some grinding from my Alpha. I pulled off the outdrive, and it looks like a bad gimbal bearing. The bearing turns rough in my fingers. It bought the boat a year ago and it had a bad bearing then. I bought the alignment tool and adjusted the front of the motor about a half inch after replacing THAT bearing, and all was well all summer. I figured the alignment was going to be off this time too, but the tool slides in and out like butter in the current (bad) bearing. The inside of the bellows is also filled with brown oil. I assumed it was gearlube, but could it be grease from the bearing? Seems like way too much. It doesn't smell as awful as fresh lube, though- I couldn't tell for sure what it was. I unscrewed the plugs from the top and bottom of the drive, and there's clean lube in both ends, no water out the bottom. This was after sitting over winter. The level of the lube is maybe three inches below the vent hole. As for the U joints, they appear tight, they don't wiggle in any direction they're not supposed to by hand.
So, any ideas why my new-last-spring gimbal bearing went out, even though the engine appears aligned? Could be just a defective one. Bad U joints? How do I check those properly? Also, where's all that brown oil from? Splashing gearlube out a bad shaft seal? Do I need to somehow check shaft bearings for wear, could that be what caused the gimbal bearing to go?
Any ideas are appreciated!!
-Eric
So, any ideas why my new-last-spring gimbal bearing went out, even though the engine appears aligned? Could be just a defective one. Bad U joints? How do I check those properly? Also, where's all that brown oil from? Splashing gearlube out a bad shaft seal? Do I need to somehow check shaft bearings for wear, could that be what caused the gimbal bearing to go?
Any ideas are appreciated!!
-Eric
