U joints and gimbal bearings messed up

mhenry48

Recruit
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Messages
3
Hello all, This is my first year of boating and had a blast until 2 weeks ago. I have a 1985 Bayliner with a 4 cyl motor and a 270 lower unit. The gimbal bearing at the U-joints broke apart and the u-joints are locked up. I purchased a Seloc manual to decide if I wanted to attack this on my own and felt it might be best to take it to the dealer. 2 weeks later they finally opened it up to find the problems with the bearing and u-joints. Also the rubber boot that should keep water from coming in was cracked. (now I know why I was getting water in the engine compartment). Further more the metal housing that protect and conects the motor to the drive shaft needs to be replaced the U-joints were knocking around it. The dealer has made this sound grim to repair and time consuming. he is talking about pulling the motor to be able to replace the housing from the motor to the back of the boat and to put new gimbal bearings in. I can not tell from the manual if this needs to be done or if all this is necessary. It look to me there are 4 bolts the hols the housing to replace it. He also said finding the housing may be difficult and expensive. I need help with questions to ask. Any ideas would be grateful. The dealer is a Bayliner dealer and a reputable company in the community, however I want to be sure. Thanks MJH
 

hondon

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 11, 2001
Messages
1,922
Re: U joints and gimbal bearings messed up

You really do'nt have a gimball bearing on this unit as the front drive yoke is female and is slid into a jack shaft.That shaft do'es run in a bearing that runs in the housing that your u joint bellows clamp onto and that housing bolts up to your engine.Soo,if you have torn up the u joints and destroyed that snout the bellows clamp onto then you will indeed need to pull the engine.Not a big deal labor wise but you are not going to like the parts .Availabilty may well be an issue.You need to let us know a little better about what you have as far as parts go . There are alot of 4 cylinder Volvo combos.
 

mhenry48

Recruit
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Messages
3
Re: U joints and gimbal bearings messed up

Thanks for the advise. You were correct It is only a roller bearing. I have decided to do the work myself and now have it torn down. The only problem i have now is the configuration of the bearings, seals, and snap rings. Does anyone have a correct configuration for this? The motor is a Volvo-Penta 1983, AQ125A with a 270 outdrive.
 
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