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First Time Boat Owner - learning the hard way
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Author:  andrew_ocp [ Mon May 14, 2012 7:48 pm ]
Post subject:  First Time Boat Owner - learning the hard way
Hello from New Zealand. I recently purchased a 2005 Four Winns Horizon 180 - after having it checked over by a Volvo Penta Dealership - as that is the engine the boat came with.

It passed inspection and first time out on the water (about 500 meters out) - engine exhaust alarm went off - anyway apart from mild panic - I turned the engine off and waited 5/10 mins and then restarted hoping it would go away :D . Engine started fine each time, temps were OK etc - however alarm kept sounding. However I thought the cause might be the ignition (stupid I now know). I turned the key off and as the motor was dying, turned back to the run position - and I think at that point the engine took a big drink into cylinder #1 and got hydrolocked.

Took into Dealership and they confirmed the hydrolocking, drained engine fluids, flushed it out, replaced fluids, ran it up, compression tested the engine - listened to the engine - no knocks or rattles, did a sea trial - and that is where things got interesting. Very Growly the marine mechanic noted (they had already mentioned it when the boat was on the muffs) - he thought the gimbal bearing was shot- UJ's seemed fine turning port or starboard. So off comes the leg - water in there - found hole in bellows and gimbal bearing showing signs of rust and was very nosiy and bascially knackered. Took 90 minutes to get the gimbal bearing out - when he expected it to take a few minutes. Also had oil sensor alarm and exhaust sensor alarm replaced (not sure of correct wording here).

The problem now is that after getting the new gimbal bearing into place the volvo alignment tool would not align and after moving the engine mounts (as far as the play would allow) - the alignment tool would still not go all the way in and he showed me.

The mechanics cannot believe how far out of alignment it is. They are planning to lift the engine and drop it back in so that it aligns with the leg.

I have a couple of questions :

1) Should a good marine mechanic pick up the gimbal bearing issue at a pre purchase inspection - the current dealership says it was obvious and they should have picked it up
2) Has anyone else had a problem with Horizon Volvo Penta engine alignment (major) both vertical and horizontal alignment when replacing a gimbal bearing and bellows

Not such a great start to the joys of boat ownership.

Cheers
Author:  LouC [ Mon May 14, 2012 8:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: First Time Boat Owner - learning the hard way
To answer your questions, yes a gimble bearing that is noisy will be even more noisy on land running it on the water muffs, they should have heard that. And to me at least, part of a good inspection for a sterndrive boat, is pulling the drive checking the bellows for water. I would not think that a mechanic can call an inspection thorough if the bellows, gimble and u-joints are not checked. If the ujoints fail, it can cause a catastrophic failure and let water in the boat. The inspection of the bellows is a normal part of stern drive maintenance. Some I/O manufacturers like OMC used to recommend that the drive be removed at the end of each season. Merc used to recommend that as well. I do it myself, it takes time but avoids failures and expensive repairs.

The alignment question is more troubling to me. They should have been able to get the engine to align. They should check for issues with the engine mounts that may be keeping the engine from sitting square to the transom mount. The way boats are made, the cut out for the stern drive and the engine mounts (the forward ones, the rear ones are part of the transom mount) have to align. The transom mount is bolted to the transom and the engine is aligned to that. If the cut out or the engine mounts were not done right when the boat was built, they can sometimes have trouble aligning the engine. It is rare but happens. More likely is a problem with one of the mounts. Keep after them and make sure they do it right or the coupler (an expensive part that requires an engine pull to replace) will fail.

When the engine is aligned properly that tool will slide in easily all the way. I had my mechanics set up the sterndrive in my boat 8 years ago. I have checked it yearly since then and it is still correctly aligned. You put grease on the part of the tool that goes in the coupler and then look at the pattern of the splines on the tool. It should be even all the way around. I took a good look at the splines in the coupler when I put the drive on last week and they are still nice and squared off which means that they are not worn. This this the OE 24 year old coupler, but because the splines were greased each year it is still good. This is what it takes to make a sterndrive last a long time.
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