Ready to reinstall my bellows, etc., and noticed there's a fair bit of steering play in the gimbal ring. When viewed from the top, you can see the hinge is not turning, just the ring on the squared shaft slightly.
Should it basically be tight with no play?

I've read some posts about tightening the u-bolt annualy. Will that tighten it up, or do I need to shim between the ring and the hinge pin (liquid or aluminum shims, etc.?)

It doesn't look excessively worn, and the boat only has about 150 hours on it.

It shouldnt have any play, try tightening the ubolt first to 55 foot lbs. Make sure to tighten each side a little at a time like 1/4 until theyre both torqued. Should be checked every year at least. If it doesnt take all the play out the ring is worn, this comes from not keeping the ubolt tight. If its loose it wil contunue to get worse and will need to be fixed at some point which involves sending your ring out to get welded or replacing it. Lots of posts on how to do the job if you do a search.

Ok, now I'm seriously pissed. And getting tired of Merc's ridiculous design bull**** (water hose, shift bellow, etc.). I work in Design for aerospace, so have some idea.

I set my torque wrench to 50 ft-lbsn (Merc service manual says 50-55 ft-lbs), and it cracked the gimbal ring in two spots before the torque was even reached. I've heard of the U-bolts breaking, but never this.

What a ridiculous amount of time and expense to replace a gimbal bearing and bellows, etc. Sure, I can blame the PO for the U-bolt not being tightened over the years, but why on earth would the ring crack?

Anyways, I guess I'm off to the weld shop at work..... does anybody have a template or drawing for cutting open the upper part of the transom assembly to access the steering hardware, similar to what JR Marine does? Or can you do it with holes in either side of the housing, per the Merc. manual?

Thanks,

J

search the web for "mercruiser service manual #11" pdf. it will have all the specs you need and the template you need if you decide to cut the access hole in your transom assy. also keep in mind there it other bushing and sleeves in there that can contribute to play. again that manual will show you all of those things, start on page 335.

i cant remember what site i downloaded the manual from but it was free and the file size was 11.9MB otherwise i would just email it to you!

I've got that manual, thanks! I decided to cut it out the way JR does it, instead of the way Merc. Does it. Seems like a better solution, and it worked like a charm to get the gimbal ring out. Will make a cover plate tomorrow. Looking for a ring now...