www.iFourWinns.com

I had my u-joints, gimbal bearing, and bellows replaced this winter over layup on my 99 Vista 258, 5.7L duoprop. Upon launch, I noticed that whenever I turn the steering wheel 1/2 or more to either side, I get a rapid "knock-knock-knock" that sounds like its coming from the outdrive. This is with the trim all of the way down.

I had the u-joints replaced because last season I had a vibration when turning. Now I get a knocking noise. So what gives? Anybody else with this problem?

Im not running the boat until my mechanic comes out tomorrow morning and gives it a look-over.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

I don't know what it could be other than gimbal bearing or u-joints.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Could the engine and drive not being aligned caused this? I have no idea, just brainstorming here, but I would think that would be more of a vibration.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

Misalignment could be a root cause, but the noise in that case would most likely still be coming from the gimbal bearing. If they did in fact do the work mentioned, and if the alignment had been off enough at that time to make this noise, they would have known at the time they reinstalled the drive that there was a problem and it should have been aligned then. IMO.

Do you have enough of a confidence level with this dealer to feel certain that the work they said they did was actually done?

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Being a '99 drive, the UJs would have grease nipples ( "zerks") These are angled, not straight, if not installed with the correct alignment in relation to the spiders they will foul the Yokes/ carrier when the drive is turned to either side, also when it is tilted.. That seems more likely than a fault with the new UJs themselves. They will exentually wear away I suppose, but it would be better to have them correctly aligned!

Regards,

Graham

Well all last week my marine mechanic had my boat. He got 2 opinons on the knocking and said it was some kind of valve in the steering mechanism that was worn and making knocking noises. One was on order and he told me I could use the boat with no ill effect until.....

The boat suffered some kind of u-joint/drive failure yesterday on the lake I stopped to help a boater whose boat died in the water, ironically it was a Vista 238 with the same engine/duo-prop as me, his fuel pump went out..anyways, I went to turn around, was idling over to him and BANG BANG BANG BANG....boat stalled. Thank god I was idling, the u-joint must've let loose. I was very happy I bought West Marines unlimited towing package, I got back to port for FREE, would've cost me $555.

Anyway, I will keep the board updated. Mechanic is coming out tomorrow.

In the mean while, who has replaced their u-joints on their duo-prop outdrive before and what part # did you use??

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

I don't think that mechanic's diagnosis was correct.....something was probably wrong with the install of those u-joints, and you may be lucky if you get away with no damage to the transom shield/drive shaft. I'd be wanting to talk to the mechanic that originally replaced these joints, they were not right from the beginning, correct?
I have no idea how old the u-joints are on my ancient 20 year old Cobra but I just keep on greasing em and checking for loosness and play when I service the drive. Bad u-joints are a safety risk with an I/O, you're lucky the bellow didn't tear and cause the boat to take on water.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Sorry to hear the bad news. Maybe a circlip failed or wasn't fitted properly and a bearing cup came out of the yoke. I did change he UJs on my '99 drive a few years ago, I used VP parts but they no longer supply UJs; they prefer to sell a complete drive shaft assembly. Aftermarket parts may still be available: VP part no was #3850812 = GLM #28030.

Graham

UPDATE: Mechanic pulled outdrive today, catastrophic damage. Bellows ruined (were just replaced in jan 08 w/gimbal and u-joints), upper unit of outdrive cracked and leaking, transom shield shot, it was very ugly. I went over to the boat afterwards and looked at it, sorry but I was too upset to take pictures...

The mechanic took blame and is repairing all. He said he will have it together by the weekend. You should've seen the chunks of metal sitting in my bellows not to mention there was water intrusion as well. Strange, because it never made it to my bilge. I checked continuously after the "big bang" but there certainly was some in the bellows.

I will keep the board updated

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

So he's replacing everything except the lower end? You might come out of this in very nice shape!

Did he determine exactly what caused it?

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Wow, I don't know if I am more amazed by the damage or the fact that you got a mechanic to own up to his mistakes!!!

That sucks though. Good luck getting everything repaired and back on the water.

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"Where Da Go"
2002 248 Vista
Lafayette, IN
http://blueoceanlife.worldventures.biz

I would wait until the works done and tested before celebrating! Don't mean to sound negative,I hope I'm wrong but I do have my doubts.

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Fred 248Vista
So much water so little time!

UPDATE:

Boat was finished yesterday, so I took 1/2 day off work and relaunched this morning....

Got the boat into the water, warm it up, untie from the pilings and go to my well at the marina and NOPE - gearshifter will NOT move either direction... I can press the override button on the throttle and gas the engine, but obviously the shift cable is bound up somewhere

Called the mechanic, he came out and in the water, adjusted my shift cable. He said I need a new cable and its his fault - he will replace it. He adjusted it so I can go into forward easily but reverse is a real bear. It takes ALOT of muscle to get the shifter into reverse. Its definately bound up somewhere...

With that being said, I took the boat out for a 20 minute spin, MUCH better.

Parts the mechanic replaced after the faulty u-joint installation he performed:

Gimbal housing, gimbal bearing, u-joint assembly (The whole complete shaft this time!), bellhousing, bellows. I have all of the old parts and MAN are they torn up..

It was a complete waste as he just replaced most of those parts (gimbal bearing, bellows, u-joints) in January 08. He took blame for blowing up u-joint and the bad shift cable now.

Anyways, the boat rode very nice, the smoothest its ever been. Im kind of concerned when Im on plane and turn, it makes a very slight subtle rumbling. So fast forward, I ended up launching my friends boat (268 Vista) with the same powerplant and his rumbles too like mine does. It doesnt do it in neutral, so it has to be the nature of the duo-prop beast.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

I would think it would be very hard nowadays to make money as a boat mechanic making those kinds of mistakes. But, kudos to him for owning up to it! It'd be kind of hard to walk away from a guy who at least owns up to his mistakes, as rare as that is.

So do you still have greasable u-joints, or do you now have the "maintenance-free" ones?

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Do you know what he did wrong? My guess would be an incorrectly fitted circlip which would allow one of the bearing casings to come out.

Graham