Gimbal bearing failure, why?
 

I had the marina mechanic check my boat yesterday, it developed a very bad vibrations when turning both to port and starboard all of sudden. He told me the gimbal bearing and engine coupling had gone bad. This is on my '96 Scarab,the engine is a 502 and drive is a bravo 1. My question is what could have caused this to happen? The boat, engine, and drive have 350 hours on them and have never been abused..
and serviced each year. :(

Thanks for any answers

Re: Gimbal bearing failure, why?
 

bad engine alignment, no greese, bellows leaking, coupler usually goes bad from engine alignment

Re: Gimbal bearing failure, why?
 

I agree with GoodT, but want to add to check that the motor mounts are in good shape.

Re: Gimbal bearing failure, why?
 

That Falls Under Engine Alignment :rolleyes:

Re: Gimbal bearing failure, why?
 

Inspect the parts when they are taken out and that might give you an indication of what may have happened so you don't repeat it.. See how the couple splines are worn, is there old dry grease packed in there or does the grease look fresh.... etc.... My buddy doesn't perform any of his maintenance and has a shop take care of it.... when I looked it over this past year, you can see that there were some things that they never did which should be part of each years maintenance procedures.... just saying that if you have someone else doing these tasks for you, just confirm that you are getting what you paid for.... simple visual inspections.

When they have the engine out, be sure to have them check the tolerance of the gimble steering pins..... would be the right time to correct this.. check bilge pumps now that they are easily accessible... or if you want to add an oil change tube to the oil pan.... inspect engine while they have it out of the lift or engie stand..... great time to do a lot of these things.... Also, after a little running time, double check your engine mount bolts and other fittings that had been reconnected to assure they are still in place and tight

Good luck!!!

Re: Gimbal bearing failure, why?
 

To all, thanks for the good information. I will put it to good use.
SAR