Trying to plane..."CLUNK", now vibrates

[Railroader12]

Trying to make some progress with the engine then this happened....

launched the boat, got out of the wake zone and punched it trying to get on plane, realized my trim was too high so I lowered it a little then CLUNK! It sounded like someone standing outside the boat hit the fiberglass, was pretty loud. I dropped throttle, took a look around back there and headed back to dock. It ran fine so I tried to see if anything was out of the ordinary and noticed a slight vibration when cruising that gets worse with turns.
I JUST replaced the gimbal bearing 2 outings ago but it mimics exactly what it felt like before I replaced the rusted/seized gimbal bearing. It seated perfectly so I doubt its that. Think a U-Joint? Dont know what else would do that and result in the vibrations aside from those 2. Gonna take it apart this week. Anything else I should look for specifically?

 

[Bondo]

realized my trim was too high so I lowered it a little then CLUNK!

Ayuh,..... Sounds like a u-joint, or yoke to me,.....

 

[jrs_diesel]

I'm willing to bet on U joints as well.

What drive do you have?

 

[Railroader12]

Alpha one gen 2. My money is on a u joint.

....they weren't kidding with the Break Out Another Thousand were they...

 

[Railroader12]

You gotta be 'yokin me...

 

[harringtondav]

Once you do your autopsy, buy the Sierra aftermarket choice. As far as I'm concerned 100% the quality. 60% the cost.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Alpha one gen 2. My money is on a u joint.

....they weren't kidding with the Break Out Another Thousand were they...

Why? This is not an expensive repair. How much of the maintenance do you do yourself? No reason any minimally competent amateur mechanic can't swap out u-joints him or herself.

 

[Lou C]

Sure it’s not the drive jumping out of gear? Make sure your shift cable is adjusted so it goes fully into fwd or else you will round off the dog clutches

 

[Bondo]

This is not an expensive repair.

Ayuh,..... If it's only a u-joint,.....

If it took-out, or bent a yoke, the costs go up, rapidly,.....

 

[Railroader12]

Why? This is not an expensive repair. How much of the maintenance do you do yourself? No reason any minimally competent amateur mechanic can't swap out u-joints him or herself.

Im into this boat about $2000 as of today....before repairing this new issue.....owned it for 2 weeks now. To be fair, I bought it well below below NADA value expecting to put a little dough into it. But, things are piling up pretty dang fast and that $ amount "into it" is with me doing 100% of the labor, had I paid a local shop to do the work that figure would easily triple. I need to get into this business......because what the locals charge for boat repairs and/or maintenance literally blows my mind.

Btw...the "Yokin me" was a joke lol. When we get a broken yoke on a railcar at the railroad all the guys in the shop say it because there's a lot of work involved to change one out.

Thanks for the help guys, Im heading to pull the outdrive now and Ill let ya know what I find.

 

[Railroader12]

Once you do your autopsy, buy the Sierra aftermarket choice. As far as I'm concerned 100% the quality. 60% the cost.

Thanks for that! Ive realized real quick the value of using "Sierra" replacement parts and plan to continue until I find something not match up or fail quickly. So far, so good!

 

[Railroader12]

Okay, just got back from storage removing the outdrive. My son got stung by a bee so I didnt have time to inspect much but I will later this evening....how common is it that the Brand new fricken gimbal bearing would come out...STUCK to the shaft?:facepalm::lol:

crossing my fingers that It didnt destroy the gimbal housing and it was just the bearing causing the vibration. It didnt have much time to do much but I understand it probably wouldnt take much. I watched a bunch of videos and read a decent amount and a few mentioned to gob grease on the outer races of the bearing so I did just that. The bearing is a sealed type, no hole to allign so I just popped it in. Its already gritty after 2 trips to the lake wth. There was a little bit of water in the bellows as well so Im assuming that will need replacing?

 

[hoowahfun]

Okay, just got back from storage removing the outdrive. My son got stung by a bee so I didnt have time to inspect much but I will later this evening....how common is it that the Brand new fricken gimbal bearing would come out...STUCK to the shaft?:facepalm::lol:

crossing my fingers that It didnt destroy the gimbal housing and it was just the bearing causing the vibration. It didnt have much time to do much but I understand it probably wouldnt take much. I watched a bunch of videos and read a decent amount and a few mentioned to gob grease on the outer races of the bearing so I did just that. The bearing is a sealed type, no hole to allign so I just popped it in. Its already gritty after 2 trips to the lake wth. There was a little bit of water in the bellows as well so Im assuming that will need replacing?

Did you align the engine after you replaced the gimbal bearing? And when you said you were trimmed too high, how high is that exactly? Anything above the max operating trim position and you risk damaging the u-joints.

 

[Railroader12]

Did you align the engine after you replaced the gimbal bearing? And when you said you were trimmed too high, how high is that exactly? Anything above the max operating trim position and you risk damaging the u-joints.

Thats a fantastic question....unfortunately until recently I was unaware of the fact the PO bypassed the trim limit switch due to corroded wires so honestly? probably too high lol. Remember....as of last month Ive never owned a boat so Im still learning what Not to do. Im SURE it didnt help that Ive ran it on muffs 4-5 times in my driveway FULL up before reading thats a HUGE no-no:facepalm:

Got some investigating in though....and believe it or not, the yokes and u-joints are all perfectly fine. Smooth, no play, no noise or anything obvious wrong. I wont be able to get a better look at the gimbal housing until tomorrow after work but there isnt any wear, scrapes or dents on anything attached to the outdrive including the gimbal bearing to suggest it did any damage so.....I may have got lucky this time and it may have been the bearing popping out of his little home. Fortunately I took the boat right back out of the water so Im sure that helped avoid damaging anything else.

Anyone ever seen this happen though? Gimbal bearing pop out like that?

and yes....dont worry, I have the limit and sensor set on the way to go back in before I bolt it back up.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I disconnected the trim limit altogether and left it that way. I do have the trim gauge working, but don't pay it much mind. Run your drive mostly down, and trim up when on plane to get the best configuration. A trim limit switch is a not a needed item really.

There are certain things I will get from Sierra, others that I will only get from Merc. Most things rubber - bellows comes to mind first (ALWAYS use Mercruiser bellows kits!). Exhaust gaskets. I prefer the OEM impeller kit for a Gen 2 since they last so long.

Unlike harringtondav, I prefer saving money and using automotive sourced u-joints. $8-$10 from NAPA. Since that is a new to you boat, you should absolutely replace them while you are there. It is REALLY hard to tell if they are wearing poorly and it can start you out on the right foot. Also impeller, bellows and lower shift cable should always be replaced when you start out with a new to you older boat.

Gimbal bearings often stick to a rusty drive shaft and can come out with the outdrive. My own have always been pretty tight going into the gimbal housing, and probably would need a lot of force to pull them out stuck to the drive shaft. How tight was the fit when you replaced yours?

 

[Railroader12]

Okay, no damage, apparently just popped out the gimbal bearing.....not sure whether to replace the bearing with a new one, or just not be so generous with the grease. The u-joints seem to be new, after cleaning the grease of em its obvious the PO replaced them recently and there is zero slop, play or grit in any of the joints so Im not going to throw new ones in there for nothing.

While its out I plan to do a new impeller, but honestly Im expecting to find a fresh rebuild kit in there also based on these findings.