thsorens

so my old alpha 1 died a horrible death, ran it low on oil and broke everthing in the upper. I bought a brand new SEI entire drive and bolted it on, but not before having the local marina replace my Gimble bearing. I did not ask if they aligned it but I was assuming that would be part of a gimble install. Anyway, with the new drive and new gimble, I have a hell of a vibration or growl in the floor that gets worse with higher RPM. I know the SEI drives make a little whine, but this is a vibration. I am planning on pulling the drive this weekend, and will try an alignment, but is this even a symptom of a misaligned drive? I dont' know why the alignment would have changed from the old drive, and it never made this vibration......... ideas? Hub? Outdrive? Alignment?
THanks
tom

thsorens

anyone?

CCstinger260

Use good synthetic oil in that SEI and it'll give you no trouble. I changed mine at 5 hrs and again at ten, and the whine went away. Just gotta get those gears ran in. I had a vibration in my floor too, and it ended up being the drive couplers. Lost both in one outing. PITA, but I'd rather do both at the same time instead of having the other fail about halfway in to the next season.

thsorens

When I called SEI they told me they would be suspicious of the coupler too. They said that old drive coming apart like it did may have been hard on the coupler. I stuck my hand down on the driveshaft right out of the coupler while the engine was idling and it just had a very slight bump up and down if any, but might be a different story once some power is applied. I obviously have to pull the engine to replace the coupler right? I'm sure its the original thats on there now. I guess I just run it till it goes out, but I HATE getting towed back home! Especially on the river! its tough towing in the current. I guess i'll just take it easy this weekend, then Sunday I'll pull the drive, have the Marina check the alignment, or buy an alignment tool on Ebay for $60, then go for the coupler.

CCstinger260

The only bad thing about waiting for the coupler letting go is the mess it creates and the potential for additional damage, not to mention that you'll be nowhere near where you need to be when that thing gives up. Yes, you'll have to pull the motor most likely to get to it.

hoozeyurdaddy

the gimble bearing will cause a vibration in the floor if they installed it wrong and damaged it, when you pull the drive grab the gimble and feel it for smoothness, there should be no nochiness at all, and check the u-joints for binding, its very rare for a coupler to cause a vibration, they just go away, but if they installed a new input shaft in an old coupler, that could create a problem.

CCstinger260

I agree that it could be the gimbal bearing or u-joints too, but, assuming it was installed correctly, and knowing that "complete" SEI drives are complete from input shaft to output shaft, my assumption was that the alignment may not have been done, which would put the coupler in a bad way and cause vibration/premature failure, and also, the failure of the previous drive could have seriously tweaked the coupler and caused it to begin the process of self-destruction. Any of which would cause the vibration he mentioned. I basically assumed that all the new parts are still intact. Both of my drive couplers failed within roughly three hours of each other. One was giving a slight vibration like a tire out of balance for about two days of boating. When it was ready to go, it got bad quickly and failed. The other one started vibrating as we were making the slow trek back 20 miles to the dock at low throttle and began the same vibration deal. I found a ramp about halfway back, tied off, and called some friends to come and get me. The second coupler puked while I was loading back on the trailer. If his other drive gave up voilently, or the alignment wasn't done or done right, my money would be on the coupler being the problem.

PS----I would definitely check all the things hoozurdaddy said to before I pulled my motor though. It would be a real pain to do all that work and it be one of your "new" parts that is the problem...

thsorens

I did check the gimble after they installed it and it spun smooth as silk. An alignment problem won't cause a vibration? If not, it's got to be the drive or the coupler. I will pull it and see what I can find. I think I'll buy an alignment tool so I can feel it for myself. I hate trusting the shop to do anything on any of my vehilcles. What about greasing the coupler? I doubt it has ever been greased before. I just had the engine out 2 years ago and replaced it with a 383. Guess I should have changed the coupler then huh! Its not really that bad pulling the engines on these things, but I'd like to be sure it was the coupler before I do.......
Thanks for the advice guys.... If I don't figure it out, I'm going to run it wide open til something gives!

CCstinger260

Yep, alignment alone can cause the vibration, and wear out your splines on your new input shaft, and kill your drive coupler, and kill your new gimbal bearing, etc, etc. Sucks, but thats the deal. You could use your old input shaft for an alignment tool, but it won't be as easy as using one with no splines. They work like more of a go/no go fit.

thsorens

Thanks
Just ordered an alignment tool off ebay. i have actually used an old input shaft before for an alignment tool, but didn't this time because I assumed the shop did when they put in the gimble. You know what ASSUME stands for though! Well, I think I'll just stay near the marina this weekend and pull it Sunday or early next week. Maybe I'll get lucky and an alignment will be all it needs.
Thanks!