Out drive play question
 

On my h2x with bravo 1 I've noticed that I have about 4 inches of play one way when I move it the other it is pretty tight I have also noticed that there is some scuffing on the starbd side gimble area when I was inspecting things with the drive up.

Play in the steering wheel?

In the drive I can move it by hand to the left about 4-6 inches and it is tight when I try to move it to the right There is also some bare aluminum showing where it has scuffed on the right side. I believe there is supposed to be wear pads there but I don't see any

Check to see if the swivel pin is stationary when you move the gimbal ring the 4" or so. If so, it means the square bore in your gimbal ring is worn. Often this is due to the U-bolt (gimbal ring pinch area) not being kept tight.

I just went through this. Welded her up, remachined/filed the bore square, feels like new now.

Could be other steering issues also.

There appears to be a lot of slop in the top pin it looks like the gimble ring is hogged out some. Is it safe to run it like this? How much would it cost to repair this? Any ideas I'd like to get the rest of the season out of it since the motor was just rebuilt and I'd hate to have it pulled again!

Have you tried tightening the two bolts above the gimble ring, trim the motor down and you will see two 9/16 ( I think ) tighten both down and see if that helps, not sure what the torque specs are ... Just a thought...

Rick

Sadly, to do it right you WILL have to pull the motor to change the gimbal ring, IF its the swivel pin, and it sounds like it might be? Are you getting any water leaking in? That usually means the swivel pin has tore up the seal. If your transom sits below the water line it will usually leak sitting at the dock, but, wont leak underway, its usually just a small "trickle" that will run down from what appears to be the top of the transom plate on the inside.

You can have JR marine weld up your existing ring and re use it. I was fortunate to find a new one on Ebay when mine was toast, or I would have him [or someone else] weld up the hole and re broach it.

I also ordered one of his swivel pins, they are made of stainless steel and last pretty much forever, as I remember it was about the same money as a stock Merc one.

I would be REAL careful running with that slop in the steering, If the ring lets go completely you will lose your steering. I suppose as long as your "carefull" and the slop isn't TOO bad you would be ok as long as you drove accordingly, but, be careful dude!

DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU HAVE EXCESSIVE CLEARANCE BETWEEN THE PIN AND SQUARE BORE. I cracked my gimbal ring doing this and I was using a torque wrench. (earlier post of mine).

Anyway, I got the cracks welded and material added to the gimbal ring's square bore, any competent aluminum welder can do it. I then filed the bore back until the swivel pin would JUST fit. I used the JR Marine method (cut open the transom plate) to access the swivel pin's hardware, which allows you to remove the gimbal ring without engine removal, and fabricated a stainless cover plate to finish it off and seal it. Going boating today, but will post pics of everything later.

Probably have 30 hard hours on it since, with no issues, and everything is tight.

i just bought one of JR's swivel pins they are about $175.00 but was told they look nicer than the Merc ones

I used JR's swivel pin also and his kit (block off plate) and wrenchs that allow you to repair this without removing the engine. Yes, you do have to cut a hole in the transom housing. No, it is not hard and it has never leaked. Much better (IMO) than removing a good engine and better than the Mercury method. In addition this was also a very nice fellow to do business with. Good luck.

Dan

What would it cost to have this done at a marina? I'm already north of 9k in repairs this year and just dropped 800 bucks on led transom lights! I would like to nurse it till the off season but am concerned about safety! I was planning on taking the performance boat course this September and would hate to have to se the money I budgeted for that on this repair. I really wish I had this boat surveyed before I purchased it. I have well over 30k in this 2000 h2x I could have gotten something a little bigger or a little newer! Thanks for your help. Larry

I would call a few shops and get quotes, you can do the JR Marine kit yourself, it's a great set up and Ron IS a SUPER nice guy and great to deal with. I just chose to change the gimbal without cutting the hole, just a personal preference.

If the motor has been out recently it shouldn't be as bad to pull, but, as I am sure you know, those H2X's are tight in the engine area, so, you are gonna pay for the "headache"

Talk to your mechanic, ask him if you can save a few bucks if you pull off the engine hatch/back seat and/or any other prep work. Stuff like that isn't real difficult, but, it IS time consuming, so, you pay for it.

I think "my guy" charged me 4 hours labour, but, I had the motor pretty much ready to pull when I dropped it off. Changing the ring, pin, seal isn't difficult, it's just a pain to get to.

I hear ya on spending cash, but, if you want TOTAL piece of mind you might even consider a new "Transom Assembly" if you buy one of those then you know EVERYTHING is new and reliable.

Here are the pics of my gimbal ring/transom plate job. First pic are the cracks you'll get if you tighten that U-bolt with excessive play in your swivel bore (mine wasn't terribly sloppy either - I was VERY surprised when it cracked). Second is of the cracks welded up (guy at work is an amazing welder). Obviously you won't need to do this unless you crack the ring, you just need aluminum built up in the square swivel shaft bore.

Third is how to cut open the transom plate to access the pinch bolt and the swivel pin nut (swivel pin is not installed in that photo). Note the 4 drilled and tapped holes to attach the cover plate. Last couple are of the cover plate I made out of stainless steel (polished), sealed and installed.

It's a bit of work to do, but none of it is overly difficult. And the way I look at it, it's an improvement from a future servicing standpoint (If I ever need to remove the ring again.)
And I am pretty anal when it comes to such things.

I did all the bellows, bearing, water line, etc. while I had everything apart also.

The only trepidation I've had with the entire job was the welded cracks (I was going to replace the ring), but I've had no issues, and have turned the boat at top speed hard (which puts the most stress on the gimbal ring).

Cost? Pretty much $0..... sweat equity only.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...IMG_2797-1.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_2800.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_2803.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_3010.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/IMG_3013.jpg

Looks like you did a great job, going to look into this kit. Was the area on the gamble ring hogged out from the worn swivel pin at all?

Looks good! I have seen a few done where the cover is painted black to match the out drive, but, it looks even better without paint IMO

Michael

It was. I had aluminum welded on and filed to the right size. No need to replace the swivel pin, etc.