Help, what's that noise?

[baysleeper]

Out of the blue last weekend I've developed a noise from what appears to be gimble-drive mounting area. Possibly the top of the drive? It's like a metallic growling knocking or pinging. It's a 95 bayliner w/454 and a brand new bravo 1. Just installed the drive 3 weeks ago and everything was cool. Gimble bearing was smooth and greased, drive shaft slipped right in, and cable was adjusted correctly. The noise just started while cruising at 3000 rpm. WTF! It sounds to me like it's in the upper drive, but it's brand new. Has this happened to anyone else out there-----any ideas???? Oh yea almost forgot, the noise is constant with engine rpm and doesn't vary no matter drives position ,(up, down,side, side) same sound.:confused:

[Glamasu]

I just went through this and it was a chipped tooth on the upper gear set.....I would think since its all new you would be fine but you never know...

[BDMar]

If it is brand new it will be covered by a one year Mercruiser warranty. Call the shop you purchased it from.

[baysleeper]

:eek: I pulled off the top cap assembly (I hope this doesn't void the warranty) off the drive to take a peek because no authorized merc shop can look at it for at least 2 weeks. I found the problem!!!!! The upper thrust shim was factory installed under the thrust bearing instead of over it. Well the thrust bearing was riding on the caps aluminum roof and simply came apart and the needles are everywhere!!! Chipped the upper drive gears and all. My next question is should I try to clean up the carnage and install a new shim and thrust bearing to get by the rest of the season. Or seeing that the gears are chipped up should I just button it up and drop it off at the shop and forget about the season??? I bought it off ebay from a place in florida, so a quick exchange is out of the question. The guy lost the warranty registration paperwork and says the invoice or bill of sale is good enough for coverage. I hope!! The drive was in a sealed merc box and crated so it was never installed before I purchased it.:confused:

[baysleeper]

:eek: I pulled off the top cap assembly (I hope this doesn't void the warranty) off the drive to take a peek because no authorized merc shop can look at it for at least 2 weeks. I found the problem!!!!! The upper thrust shim was factory installed under the thrust bearing instead of over it. Well the thrust bearing was riding on the caps aluminum roof and simply came apart and the needles are everywhere!!! Chipped the upper drive gears and all. My next question is should I try to clean up the carnage and install a new shim and thrust bearing to get by the rest of the season. Or seeing that the gears are chipped up should I just button it up and drop it off at the shop and forget about the season??? I bought it off ebay from a place in florida, so a quick exchange is out of the question. The guy lost the warranty registration paperwork and says the invoice or bill of sale is good enough for coverage. I hope!! The drive was in a sealed merc box and crated so it was never installed before I purchased it.:confused:

[BDMar]

Your first post was from 2 weeks ago. If you made an appointment when it happened you would be in the Authorized shop at this point..... It will fail if you don't repair it properly. A good Merc shop can replace the gears, top cap, bearings, & what ever else was damaged in a few days. Call Merc with your bill of sale and serial number and it should not be a problem to have it covered under warranty.