Drive getting noisy

[mustangman65]

I replace my OMC drive last year and it has been great, I have 53.2 hrs on it and went to the lake yesterday and it is getting noisier, with the engine running and in neutral no noise but driving it at 30mph it has a noticeable whine to it, also my wife was skiing behind it and said it sounded like the prop was hitting something, I stopped the boat and inspected it and saw nothing, it turns freely and doesn't interfere with anything, any ideas?

[admin]

I would check the gimbal bearing. Those are known to make a growling sound when they are failing. You need to remove the drive to check it and then turn the bearing by hand. it should be perfectly smooth. if it isn't, then replace it. Also check the magnet on the drain plug to make sure everything is okay in the drive.

Tech Support

[mustangman65]

I drained the oil from the drive and found some small metal pieces on the plug. I have changed the oil before and have never seen pieces that big.

[admin]

If you have pictures, please email them to warranty@sterndrive.cc

Tech Support

[mustangman65]

It's been a while but the drive started making a whiney noise again, you can hear it in and out of gear, worse when in forward under a load. Gimbal bearing and ujoint nice and smooth, gear oil pretty clean. I am thinking something wrong in the upper end, any ideas?

[Technical Support]

Hello,

It could be a gimbal bearing or a bearing for the input shaft on the upper unit. It would probably be best if you had a marine mechanic take a look and see which one the noise is coming from.