Gimbal bearing and bellows need to be done?

This 2005 Baja I have has the same setup. 1 switch only.
Does the motor stop pumping? Straining and not going further up?
Yours probably has the "push harder" to trailer?

EDIT: Never mind - you probably have the Kiekhaefer controls with the "optional" trim in handle :) And then the rocker switches on the dash?

Or was it Livorsi? Man, it's been a while since I dealt with those!

Maybe Marc's has been replaced - more info/pic is needed.
 
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this red circle is the only button I know that can trim the motor.

There are two rocker switches on the top next to the compass that say 'Bow Down and Bow Up', or something along those lines... They don't seem to do anything...
 
View attachment 135794
this red circle is the only button I know that can trim the motor.

There are two rocker switches on the top next to the compass that say 'Bow Down and Bow Up', or something along those lines... They don't seem to do anything...
I think that style has a button on the bottom corner, right?

Trim tabs, if they're working, are VERY useful.
 
The trim circuit is pretty simple... the switch on your handle tells the trim pump motor to either RUN UP, or RUN DOWN. Off the top of my head, I don't recall what the wire colors are for those two functions, but you'll find three wires to that switch, and they go through the handle, through the box, and alongside the shift cables to the trim pump located on the internal transom, alongside the engine, usually on the starboard side.

The trim limit switch (located on side of gimbal pivots, opposite where the TRIM SENDER is mounted) has a segment that, when the drive is anywhere from fully down, to partially up (the safe running limit), makes for a closed circuit, which is in series with the RUN UP circuit... so that you can always run the motor DOWN, but you can only run the motor UP until you reach the point where that trim limit switch's contacts open. Once that happens, you cannot go further.

The TRAILER switch is located somewhere at the helm area, and it has two wires coming out of it, one goes to the shifter box, it's connect to the RUN UP circuit, and the other goes to the area of the trim pump, and connects to the TRIM LIMIT switch wire, in such a way that when you operate the TRAILER switch, the contacts bypass the TRIM LIMIT, and that allows you to run the drive up the rest of the way.

I would agree with others in that your TL was probably NOT working before (either intentionally, or because the switch was damaged and stuck, or because someone disabled it). I would also agree that it appears to be working now, with the caveat that someone may not have reassembled and set up the switch properly, so it's not providing the full trim range as it should.

And i'm late-to-the-thread here, but one thing I would have recommended, whilst all that other work was being done... would be to have them lift the engine out, pop off the flywheel cover, replace the drive coupler., check the transom for water ingress (as noted by Barry) check/tighten down the tiller arm, replace the inside water tube, and replace the exhaust flappers. Being at LEAST 10 years old, they've done more than they were intended, and don't owe you anything more. A failure of the drive coupler is a very messy thing (acrid black goo everywhere).

As you noted, it was an expensive operation, but an important thing to note- The simple act of taking it apart for this operation is the 'expensive' aspect. Once apart, there's componentry that is right there, and easy to replace, and while it might be a little pricey, it is much cheaper than repeating the whole process again, after there's been a failure.

Just so happens that I did a bellows job on my dad's 25ft Wellcraft several weeks ago... the gimbal bellows had a fishhook tear in it from some bass-tournamenter who apparently wasn't in control of his cast, and I know for certain, because the spinner-lure was still securely embedded in the bellows, along with the tear he inflicted while trying to free it. Unfortunately it went unnoticed until I noticed the bilge pump cycle. Upon dismantling, the gimbal bearing and both U-joints were submerged, as was shift cable.

The parts and labor included:
U-joint bellows and clamps
Shift cable bellows and clamps
Gimbal water tube and clamps
Both trim sender and trim limit switch
shifter arm, shift shaft bushing and seal
Shift cable and cable end
Gimbal bearing
Drive mounting gasket kit

On the drive:
Drive U-joints
Drive water pump impeller and cover
Drive lube
Remove prop, inspect, grease splines, reinstall

I also:
Refilled trim pump and trim tab reservoir
Replaced fuel/water element
Adjusted the shift cable AND ignition interrupt switch

My total parts and materials came to just under $450, MOST of the parts I used came from Sierra.

It took me about 2 hours to remove the drive, disassemble the gimbal, etc.
It took me about 3 hours to clean up all the parts. Since it needed it, I abrasive blasted the gimbal housing ('helmet') and then primed and painted it Phantom Black (MerCruiser is proud of their paint)...
It took me about an hour-and-a-half to get the gimbal reassembled.
Draining, replacing the water pump housing, impeller, and O-rings, reassembly, and replacement of the U-joints took me about 4.5hours, which I did inside my garage, while watching video of my son march at the Iowa/Ohio State game...
Putting the drive back on took about 20 minutes... ancillary filling was done while I was adjusting the cable and interrupt switch, I had it on the dock for an hour or so...

And I was in no big rush for ANY of this... so probably 15 hours of MY time. If I were paying a professional, they'd do it much faster BUT... they would not be doing any of the OTHER maintenance and inspection things that I was doing.

My marina through out a rough quote of $2100 to just do the bellows, so I don't think what you paid was out-of-reach. It DOES sound like they were offering you a good service plan to attend to other things, but knowing the history, if you pulled it into my driveway, as a friend, I would have suggested we put it on service rack, and once the drive was off, disconnect the engine, lift it up, swing it over, and do the other interior things I suggested... coupler, transom wood inspection, etc., so that it'd be ready for another 8-10 years without problems.
 
The trim circuit is pretty simple... the switch on your handle tells the trim pump motor to either RUN UP, or RUN DOWN. Off the top of my head, I don't recall what the wire colors are for those two functions, but you'll find three wires to that switch, and they go through the handle, through the box, and alongside the shift cables to the trim pump located on the internal transom, alongside the engine, usually on the starboard side.

The trim limit switch (located on side of gimbal pivots, opposite where the TRIM SENDER is mounted) has a segment that, when the drive is anywhere from fully down, to partially up (the safe running limit), makes for a closed circuit, which is in series with the RUN UP circuit... so that you can always run the motor DOWN, but you can only run the motor UP until you reach the point where that trim limit switch's contacts open. Once that happens, you cannot go further.

The TRAILER switch is located somewhere at the helm area, and it has two wires coming out of it, one goes to the shifter box, it's connect to the RUN UP circuit, and the other goes to the area of the trim pump, and connects to the TRIM LIMIT switch wire, in such a way that when you operate the TRAILER switch, the contacts bypass the TRIM LIMIT, and that allows you to run the drive up the rest of the way.

I would agree with others in that your TL was probably NOT working before (either intentionally, or because the switch was damaged and stuck, or because someone disabled it). I would also agree that it appears to be working now, with the caveat that someone may not have reassembled and set up the switch properly, so it's not providing the full trim range as it should.

And i'm late-to-the-thread here, but one thing I would have recommended, whilst all that other work was being done... would be to have them lift the engine out, pop off the flywheel cover, replace the drive coupler., check the transom for water ingress (as noted by Barry) check/tighten down the tiller arm, replace the inside water tube, and replace the exhaust flappers. Being at LEAST 10 years old, they've done more than they were intended, and don't owe you anything more. A failure of the drive coupler is a very messy thing (acrid black goo everywhere).

As you noted, it was an expensive operation, but an important thing to note- The simple act of taking it apart for this operation is the 'expensive' aspect. Once apart, there's componentry that is right there, and easy to replace, and while it might be a little pricey, it is much cheaper than repeating the whole process again, after there's been a failure.

Just so happens that I did a bellows job on my dad's 25ft Wellcraft several weeks ago... the gimbal bellows had a fishhook tear in it from some bass-tournamenter who apparently wasn't in control of his cast, and I know for certain, because the spinner-lure was still securely embedded in the bellows, along with the tear he inflicted while trying to free it. Unfortunately it went unnoticed until I noticed the bilge pump cycle. Upon dismantling, the gimbal bearing and both U-joints were submerged, as was shift cable.

The parts and labor included:
U-joint bellows and clamps
Shift cable bellows and clamps
Gimbal water tube and clamps
Both trim sender and trim limit switch
shifter arm, shift shaft bushing and seal
Shift cable and cable end
Gimbal bearing
Drive mounting gasket kit

On the drive:
Drive U-joints
Drive water pump impeller and cover
Drive lube
Remove prop, inspect, grease splines, reinstall

I also:
Refilled trim pump and trim tab reservoir
Replaced fuel/water element
Adjusted the shift cable AND ignition interrupt switch

My total parts and materials came to just under $450, MOST of the parts I used came from Sierra.

It took me about 2 hours to remove the drive, disassemble the gimbal, etc.
It took me about 3 hours to clean up all the parts. Since it needed it, I abrasive blasted the gimbal housing ('helmet') and then primed and painted it Phantom Black (MerCruiser is proud of their paint)...
It took me about an hour-and-a-half to get the gimbal reassembled.
Draining, replacing the water pump housing, impeller, and O-rings, reassembly, and replacement of the U-joints took me about 4.5hours, which I did inside my garage, while watching video of my son march at the Iowa/Ohio State game...
Putting the drive back on took about 20 minutes... ancillary filling was done while I was adjusting the cable and interrupt switch, I had it on the dock for an hour or so...

And I was in no big rush for ANY of this... so probably 15 hours of MY time. If I were paying a professional, they'd do it much faster BUT... they would not be doing any of the OTHER maintenance and inspection things that I was doing.

My marina through out a rough quote of $2100 to just do the bellows, so I don't think what you paid was out-of-reach. It DOES sound like they were offering you a good service plan to attend to other things, but knowing the history, if you pulled it into my driveway, as a friend, I would have suggested we put it on service rack, and once the drive was off, disconnect the engine, lift it up, swing it over, and do the other interior things I suggested... coupler, transom wood inspection, etc., so that it'd be ready for another 8-10 years without problems.
Wow! That's a lot of information :) I don't have the time or the patience to do all that myself so I am happy the price i paid was reasonable.

I found the Trailer switch and it is in fact working. The button is hard to press though! I think the Trim button is also working fine because at the highest trim level, the boat will not get on plane, so it is probably at a high enough setting.

I noticed they took off the anode above the prop (the little fin had broken off). I think this is something I should easily be able to replace my self. We never let the boat sit in the water so I am not sure it's really necessary (also only freshwater), but it would help with the boat steering i believe which is nice. Any suggestions on videos to install?
 
Did they replace the fin anode with a flat anode? That would make more sense. You don't need the fin if you have power steering.
 
Did they replace the fin anode with a flat anode? That would make more sense. You don't need the fin if you have power steering.
They left it like the picture shows. I don’t know if I have power steering tbh…
 

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They left it like the picture shows. I don’t know if I have power steering tbh…
I'd be surprised if you didn't have power steering. But you'd know it when you're operating the boat. Or, just look for a power steering pump.

From that picture... "they" didn't remove it. It feel off. Replace it with a flat anode. It's very self explanatory once you have it in your hands.
 
Did they replace the fin anode with a flat anode? That would make more sense. You don't need the fin if you have power steering.

But should power steering fail ??? Don't need it till you do.

Thought exact same thing until my last 25' boat with a BBC and B1 blew a power steering hose 45 minutes out. I was near exhausted when we got back because the steering was so difficult. Steering tab went back on.
 
Looking at your original post, there's a power steering pump mounted in front of the portside valve cover. As @Bill Curtis made note of, not having a trim tab with manual steering will wear you out really quickly, as you'll be continually fighting against the prop torque. Get a trim tab back on there. You'll need to give it a bit of offset to start with. It'll take a bit of experimenting to determine where it needs to end up to give you no torque during cruise.
 
@muskokamarc If I am not forgetting, I believe the trailer button that raises the drive past the normal limit, is circled in blue below. Its a rubber push area with a switch underneath, not a button really. It runs the up trim, but bypasses the trim limit:
upload_2022-11-12_13-6-43.png
 
@muskokamarc If I am not forgetting, I believe the trailer button that raises the drive past the normal limit, is circled in blue below. Its a rubber push area with a switch underneath, not a button really. It runs the up trim, but bypasses the trim limit:
View attachment 136527
Yup, you are right. That's the button that I will need to use from now on to raise it!
 
So... the drive trim tab is much like an aircraft trim tab... the tab's position setting will actually only trim-to-neutral against prop torque at one particular loadpoint... meaning, hull speed, rpm, and state-of-plane.

As Bill noted, not having it there IF your power steering fails will cause you to have your hands full with steering, but the point at which you experience the highest reaction will depend on the engine rpm, hull speed, and drive trim.

For MerCruiser, The adjustable trim tab was a feature that first appeared on Mercury outboards, and don't take it as Gospel, I believe it first appeared around the time the Tower Of Power inline six outboard was being improved... and it was simply to reduce the amount of 'handful' one needed to counter beastly prop torque sources.

It was pretty much a 'from-the-git-go' on MerCruiser lower units, most likely because that MerCruiser lower unit came FROM the 'big outboard' world. It's not very visible in my avatar pic, but the trimtab on my '70 185 is the 'performance' type, whose fin is offset towards the rear further... and it HAS to be that way, otherwise it won't clear the bigger cleaver (this is the 24p, the other is 27p).

The 185 does NOT have power steering. It has incredible loads of power, but no power steering. It has hydraulic steering (I don't recall if I used Hynautic or Teleflex... I THINK this one got Teleflex), but suffice to say that the presence of the trim tab has basically NO effect on prop torque to the steering... if I pour on throttle, the boat leans and turns, and when I chop the throttle, it leans the other way, noses down hard... that's fact of life for small boat, big prop, and lots of power. The savior to all this, is that they hydraulic steering has reaction check valves in the helm... meaning, they block pressure FROM the tiller-arm cylinder, so that it cannot push against the steering wheel. When you turn the helm, the helm pump's pressure overcomes the check valves AND cylinder reaction pressure, and the drive pivots. Turn the helm the other way, and it lets the drive pivot. Not much load on the steering wheel, but just enough to let you know there's something goin' on back behind the transom (if the fury of that cleaver wasn't enough...)

On my SRV22CC, there's no tab... it's an anode without a tab, and yes, it has power steering. Many MerCruisers after 1995 or so had just a flat filler anode, but in my case, I put it there as a replacement. This on a MerCruiser 260, 1.5 drive ratio, 21p prop... it demonstrates a little torque reaction, but if you're below 19P, it's really not much. My dad's 25' Wellcraft has a 17p behind a 5.7L (L31 'vortec') and 1.5:1, also a blank tab. No problems there.

The advantage to the flat plate (aside from not having to worry about blade clearance) is that there's room for stuff to pass through with lesser chance of getting fouled up. Large twigs, pieces of old floating ski-rope, a bushel-basket of millfoil, lilly pads, etc will all pass through without getting tangled up in there... and I'll admit, as nasty sharp as the cleaver is on my 185, it tends to be a flotsamagnet... and seein's how it's basically operating as a surfacing prop, it's gonna have a rather vegetarian diet. The 22, and Dad's 25 don't see as much of that.

It's not often that power steering fails, and when it does, it just means there was a maintenance issue. Once connected, the hydraulic hoses really aren't under much stress, they're barely working... hoses don't move much, the worst they get, is sitting in a musty, oily bilge for years... and occasionally, someone decides to store an anchor or prop in the engine compartment, and it bounces into something (hose, belt, etc).

My biggest concern is... It's missing... WHEN it came loose, HOW did it leave, and is the propshaft and upper housing okay? Sometimes they get smacked by a blade, and that's not a good thing.

Since nobody mentioned it... an allen wrench fits down through the hole atop the drive. Your drive MIGHT have a little plastic plug covering the hole, most of the time, that plug is long-since-gone (no problem with that). Some guys insist on putting loctite on them, I NEVER do (it's an anode, so it is INTENDED to be sacrificial). I put some contact cement on the threads instead, as it'll provide enough goo to make it want to stick, rather than unthread, if it ever rattles loose.
 

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