Waterfoul

I really don't want to pull my motor. I read somewhere that there is a new tool available to do this without pulling the motor. ????

And, how do you go about doing this?? Remove the lower unit, remove the two pivot bolts behind the "hockey puck" trim senders, remove the bellows and the shift cable (how do you remove the shift cable??, and then I'm lost from here.

And I need a cheap ring. Anyone got one laying around that they replaced due to slop in the pivot?? I'd love to try to recondition one. I'm broke!!!!!

Mr Gadgets

Mike,
What happened? Did you go back to the beach and check it?? Where is the slop in the upper pivot pin (steering tiller ataches here) or in one or both of the bellhousing pins (under the trim limit and sending units?

If your going to recondition one of them, then it might as well be yours.. depends on how bad it is.
I did one a year ago, cant remember all the details. Drive comes off, sending units come off, water hose is removed from the bell housing( it swings up and down and drive it bolted to it). Bellows is removed from transom assy I believe, hose clamp holds it in place. Mark or make a drawing of where the screw is positioned on the bellows.. so you can reassmeble. shift cable has a nut and oring in bellhousing, take the nut off and pull the cable out of the bellhousing. There is a bellows on it also, cant remember how it goes.. but another hose clamp I believe. I have the tool to remove the thingy in the water hose if you need it. ...

That is a start.. I can tell you how I fixed the one I had. Cant repeat it here in public.. younger kids at home may try it.. you know..

let me know..

Dick

PS.. two days in a row.. on the trailer running.. felt soooooo good!!

Thanks for the back up this morn..

Raypanic

Step 1:

Remove drive
unbolt six nuts and trim cylinders speedo hose ect... I assume you know about the shift cable and stuff.

Step 2:

Remove Bellhousing:
Remove water hose retainer nut, it is a wedge shaped nut that usually requires a special cross studded driver. It is actually inside the hose and when screwd in it expands the hose to the bell housing wall.

Remove shift cable, I think it is a 7/16 nut. Be carefull not to loose the seal on th inside of the bellhousing. This is on the back side not under the nut.

Pull out driveshaft bellows retainer, Use a pair of channel locks or needle nose pliers. It is usually recked in removal, get a new one.

Unclamp exhaust bellows band clamp

Remove drive lube tube, Depending on the year it may just have a clamp behind the bell housing or a quick disconnect with a retainer located inside the boat just below the raw water hose. ( I think it is from like 1999 and up)

Remove trim senders and note positions

Remove the hinge pins. This requires a special tool too it is like a big torx driver. They are torqued to 145 Ftlbs and use red locktite. I ended up using a 3' pipe breaker bar. You could remove these pins first to allow you to get at the drive lube hose and bellows a little eaiser.

The high performance gimble ring use a hinge pin with a flange that is mounted with two smaller torx screws. With this setup you don’t need the big breaker bar. You need a simple slide hammer to pull the pins.

Step 3 Gimble Ring Removal

To remove the gimble ring basically you need to remove the upper and lower pivot pins. The problem is the upper pin retaining nut is hidden within the rear transom assy. This is the “box” right above the gimble ring. The way to remove the pin with out having to remove the engine and transom plate is to drill two 1 1/8” holes on both sides of the “Box” with a template (paper) from merc. Loosen the steering lever clamping bolt and nut through the holes. Then you could use the special tool you seen. Just slip it onto the top of the lock nut and push the gimble ring to one side, remove the wrench and move ring to the side and put the wrench on again. Then push the ring to the side again and repeat until the nut is loose. You will tap the 1 1/8" holes and plug them when done.

There is a cotter pin on the lower pin and then you can remove it. The upper pin after the nut is loose may be pulled by a slide hammer. Note there are washers and things that need to be replaced in the same place.

You should get a Merc Manual # 28 It shows all the procedures. Have fun, If you need the special tools I could loan you some. Just let me know.

jpclear

Ray; you are most kind and correct to send that much info. You go on my +++ list !! --- Jer

Waterfoul

Raypanic, my ring is shot. Broken in 3 places, on both sides of the top pivot pin, and directly astern (between the bell housing and the pin if you know what I mean). Do you think I can get it off without drilling the holes? But even if I do, i'll probably have to drill to get the new one on eh??

I thought there was a tool on the market that eliminated the need to drill the holes??? Would it be easier just to lift the motor off the rear engine mounts?? Can you get at this nut from the inside???

Even so, I need a gimbal ring real cheap. That's gonna be my biggest hurdle. As it is, I'm going to HAVE to do this myself, can't afford to pay somebody. And how do you go about drilling a 1 1/8" hole in aluminum without going all over hell and tarnation doing it??? Seems to me the transom would be in the way??? Do you step up to it? Start with say a 1/2" bit and work your way up??

Raypanic

No you have to drill the holes. The transom is sandwitched between the inner and outer transom assy. The nut is "hidden" in the outer. You would have to take all thru-bolts off to get the back off. All installations I have seen are this way. The merc manual does state that if you can see the nut from the inside you dont have to drill the holes (Duh) but I have never seen any boats prepped this way. The nut is what holds on the steering arm down

The holes are drilled on the sides of the housing, should be easy to get at from the rear of the boat. It is on the sides of the squared off housing just above the U-Bolt Usually with a mercrusier sticker on it. You can use a 1 1/8" hole saw to drill the holes. I have a template and I will see If I can measure it for you for the locations. The tool is still inserted in the holes it looks like 2/3 of a box end wrench. Normally without the wrench you have to use a hammer and punch on the flats of the nut, one at a time to loosten or tighten it. (What a pain in the ass).

I can scan a few pages tomorrow at work and post them for you it will make things a lot clearer.

I have a picture I put a re dot on the spot, you would drill one on each side then after you are done tap with a pipe tap and install a plug.

Waterfoul

Thanks Raypanic. Guess I'll have to do some drilling. A hole say will cut thru that much aluminum?? Probably need one of those $40 diamond tipped ones eh?? LOL!!

Guess I could do all the prework (drilling, removing parts, etc...) and at least be ready to re-install it when I can come up with some money to buy a gimbal ring.

Cord

iTrader: (2)

A hole saw would work, but just don't let the pilot hit the nut.

Tinkerer

A regular hole saw should do the trick-- the aluminum isn't very thick there.

BGIII

iTrader: (3)

Mike, I got a hole saw you can use if needed.