Greasing my Alpha Gen. II....

[Rocky_Road]

I have my grease gun loaded with the Quicksilver gimbal bearing grease...but there are also several hinge pin fittings that need to be greased.

Do I have to go to the trouble of buying a second grease gun (and correct hinge pin grease)? Or can I just give the hinge pins a shot of gimbal bearing grease...and be done.

Second question...how do you know how much gimbal grease to use? And, if you overgrease...where does it end up? Can too much gimbal grease create a whole new problem?

 

[billbayliner]

Re: Greasing my Alpha Gen. II....

No, just use the same grease.... Any grease is better and no grease.......

The excess grease when maintaining the gimbal will go into the bellow but not a worry....... I personally put in 10 pumps, usually when out of the water with engine running on muffs....

Do not forget to go behind the engine and grease the spline. Has a fitting on the shaft....

Download the digital manual for your engine / drive from Don's helpfull post....

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=251571

 

[Bondo]

Re: Greasing my Alpha Gen. II....

Do not forget to go behind the engine and grease the spline. Has a fitting on the shaft....

Ayuh,... Good advice there,....

 

[ziggy]

Re: Greasing my Alpha Gen. II....

while i don't know w/o looking in a service manual. my guess would be it's no different than my 1 drive. per the book (for my drive) it uses 3 different greases... spline grease, ujoint and gimble brg. grease and 2-4-c grease. 4 i guess if ya wanna include the 101 for the propshaft..... for me that's 2 different grease guns as my spine grease gets applied by hand (no zerk like yer genII) and actually, i only have one grease gun. the 2-4-c has this funky little grease gun ya can get at yer mercruiser dealer that don't snap onto a zerk. you apply pressure to the gun aginst the zerk to get it into it. it screws onto the tube of 2-4-c that ya get....

while any grease is obviously better than no grease. i prefer to apply whatever the oem want's me to apply (use the book that applies to your drive to find out what is prefered). the reasons they have may be mystrery to me. but i don't have to know why. i just need to know what the oem says i should use for best longevity of the parts in question...

a link to the funky grease gun to applie 2-4-c... http://www.boatfix.com/bykeywordmerc.asp?textfield=91-30500A 2&texttype=2&submit=Search

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Greasing my Alpha Gen. II....

No, just use the same grease.... Any grease is better and no grease.......

The excess grease when maintaining the gimbal will go into the bellow but not a worry....... I personally put in 10 pumps, usually when out of the water with engine running on muffs....

I like the idea of applying the grease...while the bearing is in play! Great 'heads up'!

Do not forget to go behind the engine and grease the spline. Has a fitting on the shaft....

Download the digital manual for your engine / drive from Don's helpfull post....

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=251571

Thanks, billbayliner!

I tend to agree with you...any grease marketed by Quicksilver, will be water resistant, and unless it is extra 'thick' for some specific application, should handle the other minor lubrication concerns. In an ideal world, I would have a 'rack' of grease guns...all loaded with a specific part number.

On the other hand...I agree with Ziggy. If you go with the OEM directions, you have no room for criticism, if something fails! But...since every time I walk out of the local marine store, I have left behind a least one 'C' note...there has to be some place for compromise. My budget...and the 'bride'...demands this.

Final question:

Any problems using the gimbal grease, on the spline? This is one area that I would consider a second setup....

The wealth of experience...and knowledge...on this site is priceless.

Keep the opinions coming...!

 

[dan t.]

Re: Greasing my Alpha Gen. II....

I use 2-4-c for everything, 6years in salt water, no problem