Stern Drive Questions

watsoc · Addict Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 574 City: Anthem

I have a 4.3L Volvo Penta Engine w/ the SX Stern Drive Unit. My main question is how important is it to grease the U Joints w/ in the stern drive every season. I did a search on this and found only one answer from Leggster stating that every 4 years is good anough to maintenance this part of the stern drive. I have put over 100 hrs on this unit in the last two seasons and I am not sure this was done by the previous owner either. It seems like a ton of work to pull the drive unit off of the boat just to grease the U Joints. I can see this being important however. Has anyone removed a drive unit without have a engine lift or trolley to support the drive unit when it is off of the boat. I can easily grease my Gimble Joint without having to remove the outdrive so I am planning on doing this anyways. I am currently in the process of changing the gear oil so
I figure this would be the best time to pull the drive unit if I need to. Thanks for any suggestions or help on this matter.

mneal · Outlaw Joined: 28 Jun 2003 Posts: 120 City: St. Petersburg

Some U joints don't even have grease fittings so not that imporant...but I would still pull the drive and grease the coupler splines and check the alignment . If you just bought the boat then you know where it stands froma maintance point of view. It is not that hard..but sorta heavy so get a friend to help.

deepcove · Soul Rider Joined: 15 Mar 2004 Posts: 296 City: Vancouver

I had a Volvo Penta leg on my last boat. You do not have to worry about the U joints unless your bellows are leaking, in which case the U joints would probably need to be replaced. I had to replace mine twice in three years....gotta love salt water.

I do not believe my U joints had grease fittings.