intermediate bearing replacement info.

[Jerlane]

Good to know! Now let's hope I never need to do it!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

TR1s only weigh 160lbs... slide it forward 2 inches with pump already pulled so you can remove intermediate assembly. Hoses and wiring have enough slack built in. Other big help was platform plank over engines. Not pretty but it works. Lying on that allows you to use both arms and hands as you work vs using one arm for support.

Made one quite similar…. It works great.

 

[Aqua Jetaway]

@Riveramx and @Cobra Jet Steering LLC and @FSH 210 Sport

Wow! This thread is incredibly helpful.

I have a 2019 212X and I’ve been chasing a “rattle” in the starboard drive that happens after we’ve been on the water and warmed her up a bit. She’s quiet when we leave the dock, but the rattle comes and goes while we’re idling or no waking after the engine has warmed up. I inspected the cone bearing and found no issue. I pulled and inspected the pump and found no wear marks or other issues. I tried running the engine on the hose without the pump. I didn’t hear the noise, but I’m not confident that I ran the engine long enough to warm the affected parts.

Nevertheless, the sound seems to me to be vibrating the back panel of the engine bay that the intermediate bearing bolts into. I’m thinking that I just need to run it longer on the hose, or maybe get it warmed on the water and quickly pull the pump and check again.
I’d like to be sure before I start into the intermediate shaft replacement.

Like you, I’m not confident that I got much grease into the housing for the first few years. I’m currently at about 250 hours (all freshwater.

Any thoughts?

 

[Riveramx]

@Riveramx and @Cobra Jet Steering LLC and @FSH 210 Sport

Wow! This thread is incredibly helpful.

I have a 2019 212X and I’ve been chasing a “rattle” in the starboard drive that happens after we’ve been on the water and warmed her up a bit. She’s quiet when we leave the dock, but the rattle comes and goes while we’re idling or no waking after the engine has warmed up. I inspected the cone bearing and found no issue. I pulled and inspected the pump and found no wear marks or other issues. I tried running the engine on the hose without the pump. I didn’t hear the noise, but I’m not confident that I ran the engine long enough to warm the affected parts.

Nevertheless, the sound seems to me to be vibrating the back panel of the engine bay that the intermediate bearing bolts into. I’m thinking that I just need to run it longer on the hose, or maybe get it warmed on the water and quickly pull the pump and check again.
I’d like to be sure before I start into the intermediate shaft replacement.

Like you, I’m not confident that I got much grease into the housing for the first few years. I’m currently at about 250 hours (all freshwater.

Any thoughts?

loud rattle usually means bearings, loose bolts or misalignment. it could be the intermediate bearing. at 250 hours and 6 years old boat even in fresh water the bearing could be failing due to rust and wear. The other problem with vibration is that it could loosen the bolts that hold the bearing to the bulkhead and hopefully the alignment shims didn't fall off. If you are comfortable doing your own work on your boat first check there is no damage to the wear ring on the impeller. if damage replace. then check if there is any play on your driveshaft coupling, if so may as well remove and check the intermediate bearing and replace if necessary. let me know if there anyway that I can help. good luck.

 

[Riveramx]

remember the intermediate bearing do get exposed to water pressure while the boat is operating.

 

[Aqua Jetaway]

I can’t say that the rattle is loud. It’s a little annoying and comes and goes for a few seconds at a time when idling. If I go to no wake speed, the noise goes away.

I’ve already checked the wear ring/impeller. No real issues there, but I see some faint signs of cavitation erosion on the impeller edges in a couple spots. I can’t imagine this making the low rpm rattle.

I have no water coming through the IDS Assembly and no water in the bilge.

 

[anmut]

I can’t say that the rattle is loud. It’s a little annoying and comes and goes for a few seconds at a time when idling. If I go to no wake speed, the noise goes away.

I’ve already checked the wear ring/impeller. No real issues there, but I see some faint signs of cavitation erosion on the impeller edges in a couple spots. I can’t imagine this making the low rpm rattle.

I have no water coming through the IDS Assembly and no water in the bilge.

I have the same thing - it's not your bearing, it's the external pump and steering components. With your boat out of the water, go back to your pump nozzles and jiggle them around - they are loose and clunky.

My theory is that all the nozzles and components are aligned at speed, then when you come off of the throttle and the buckets go back to N, you're pushing them back into a loose configuration, which gives some clunking sound. As soon as you add even a tiny bit of throttle, the components tighten back up and the noise goes away.

@Bruce makes some 3D printed steering bushings that helped to quiet my boat up. Other things to check - make sure everything is tight and double check any aftermarket steering enhancers for looseness.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

@Riveramx and @Cobra Jet Steering LLC and @FSH 210 Sport

Wow! This thread is incredibly helpful.

I have a 2019 212X and I’ve been chasing a “rattle” in the starboard drive that happens after we’ve been on the water and warmed her up a bit. She’s quiet when we leave the dock, but the rattle comes and goes while we’re idling or no waking after the engine has warmed up. I inspected the cone bearing and found no issue. I pulled and inspected the pump and found no wear marks or other issues. I tried running the engine on the hose without the pump. I didn’t hear the noise, but I’m not confident that I ran the engine long enough to warm the affected parts.

Nevertheless, the sound seems to me to be vibrating the back panel of the engine bay that the intermediate bearing bolts into. I’m thinking that I just need to run it longer on the hose, or maybe get it warmed on the water and quickly pull the pump and check again.
I’d like to be sure before I start into the intermediate shaft replacement.

Like you, I’m not confident that I got much grease into the housing for the first few years. I’m currently at about 250 hours (all freshwater.

Any thoughts?

So you’re confident on the grease in the intermediate bearing now?

Post in thread 'Intermediate bearing greasing advice'

Mar 30, 2025

You can make up something like this to help you reach those hard to reach places in your engine bay.

I like what @steveinmd says about removing the hose at the intermediate bearing and pumping out all the old grease until fresh grease comes out.

I’d suggest that once you have removed the house / tubing from the bearing, use a bright light and a piece of line trimmer / weed wacker line to stick down inside the bearing to see just how much grease is in the bearing before adding any grease.

My boat did not come with...

• FSH 210 Sport

@madtom had some astute observations in this thread about greasing as well.

Did you put a wrench on the mounting bolts to check for tightness?

Have you checked everything else for the source of the rattle? Sometimes one of my pop cleats will make noise at idle, other times I hear a very slight rattle in the transom area after I’ve been trolling for a long time, it’s not always there, I’ve just put it down to aging.

 

[Neutron]

@Riveramx and @Cobra Jet Steering LLC and @FSH 210 Sport

Wow! This thread is incredibly helpful.

I have a 2019 212X and I’ve been chasing a “rattle” in the starboard drive that happens after we’ve been on the water and warmed her up a bit. She’s quiet when we leave the dock, but the rattle comes and goes while we’re idling or no waking after the engine has warmed up. I inspected the cone bearing and found no issue. I pulled and inspected the pump and found no wear marks or other issues. I tried running the engine on the hose without the pump. I didn’t hear the noise, but I’m not confident that I ran the engine long enough to warm the affected parts.

Nevertheless, the sound seems to me to be vibrating the back panel of the engine bay that the intermediate bearing bolts into. I’m thinking that I just need to run it longer on the hose, or maybe get it warmed on the water and quickly pull the pump and check again.
I’d like to be sure before I start into the intermediate shaft replacement.

Like you, I’m not confident that I got much grease into the housing for the first few years. I’m currently at about 250 hours (all freshwater.

Any thoughts?

Get a long bar or extension to place on different components that could be causing it and put the other side to your ear. Compare it to the port motor in the same spots. Even a bad bearing that isn't loud will be louder enough to hear it through the bar. I have a mechanics stethoscope to use but a metal bar, pipe, or anything long and metal will work.
Also resting your hand on it might feel the vibration different from the other side but it isn't foolproof that way.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

@Riveramx and @Cobra Jet Steering LLC and @FSH 210 Sport

Wow! This thread is incredibly helpful.

I have a 2019 212X and I’ve been chasing a “rattle” in the starboard drive that happens after we’ve been on the water and warmed her up a bit. She’s quiet when we leave the dock, but the rattle comes and goes while we’re idling or no waking after the engine has warmed up. I inspected the cone bearing and found no issue. I pulled and inspected the pump and found no wear marks or other issues. I tried running the engine on the hose without the pump. I didn’t hear the noise, but I’m not confident that I ran the engine long enough to warm the affected parts.

Nevertheless, the sound seems to me to be vibrating the back panel of the engine bay that the intermediate bearing bolts into. I’m thinking that I just need to run it longer on the hose, or maybe get it warmed on the water and quickly pull the pump and check again.
I’d like to be sure before I start into the intermediate shaft replacement.

Like you, I’m not confident that I got much grease into the housing for the first few years. I’m currently at about 250 hours (all freshwater.

Any thoughts?

So you removed the pump from the boat to run the engine??? Jet boats with stainless steel wear rings make a rattle and some more than others I would say check the motor mounts also to be sure the engine is not loose

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Get a long bar or extension to place on different components that could be causing it and put the other side to your ear. Compare it to the port motor in the same spots. Even a bad bearing that isn't loud will be louder enough to hear it through the bar. I have a mechanics stethoscope to use but a metal bar, pipe, or anything long and metal will work.
Also resting your hand on it might feel the vibration different from the other side but it isn't foolproof that way.

Excellent!

 

[Aqua Jetaway]

Great responses! I’m going to group my follow up.

1. I don’t have any aftermarket steering devices. I tried grabbing the nozzle in the water while the noise was occurring to see if this would affect the noise. Didn’t seem to have any affect. I’ll try this again. The noise is coming from the starboard side which is attached to the articulated keel. I’m not sure if that would make it better or worse. Wondering if I should disconnect the keel and see if that affects the rattle.

2. Yes, I ran the motor on the hose with the pump pulled. No noise, but like I said I don’t have the noise during my idle out from the ramp. I’m wondering if the heated shaft is pushing the bearing to the side. I’m not confident that the shaft will heat up much running at idle on the hose.

3. It’s hard to be confident in the greasing process. I’m going to try the gear lube recommendation.

4. I have used mechanic’s stethoscope to listen to a variety of components: bearing housing (multiple locations), but i didn’t find anything roaring. I’m thinking that the rubber damper may also be damping any bearing vibration. I’ll spend some more time with this.

5. I will check the engine mounts. I have not done this, but I have put my hand on both valve covers (starboard and port). Didn’t seem like much difference, but I’ll double check.

 

[Neutron]

Great responses! I’m going to group my follow up.

1. I don’t have any aftermarket steering devices. I tried grabbing the nozzle in the water while the noise was occurring to see if this would affect the noise. Didn’t seem to have any affect. I’ll try this again. The noise is coming from the starboard side which is attached to the articulated keel. I’m not sure if that would make it better or worse. Wondering if I should disconnect the keel and see if that affects the rattle.

2. Yes, I ran the motor on the hose with the pump pulled. No noise, but like I said I don’t have the noise during my idle out from the ramp. I’m wondering if the heated shaft is pushing the bearing to the side. I’m not confident that the shaft will heat up much running at idle on the hose.

3. It’s hard to be confident in the greasing process. I’m going to try the gear lube recommendation.

4. I have used mechanic’s stethoscope to listen to a variety of components: bearing housing (multiple locations), but i didn’t find anything roaring. I’m thinking that the rubber damper may also be damping any bearing vibration. I’ll spend some more time with this.

5. I will check the engine mounts. I have not done this, but I have put my hand on both valve covers (starboard and port). Didn’t seem like much difference, but I’ll double check.

If you listen to both intermediate bearing housings with a stethoscope and both sound the same, i doubt its your issue. Even without temperature in it you would hear the difference even slightly it would sound very different. The rubber damper will not hide the vibration when listening with a stethoscope.

Can you record the noise possibly?

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Great responses! I’m going to group my follow up.

1. I don’t have any aftermarket steering devices. I tried grabbing the nozzle in the water while the noise was occurring to see if this would affect the noise. Didn’t seem to have any affect. I’ll try this again. The noise is coming from the starboard side which is attached to the articulated keel. I’m not sure if that would make it better or worse. Wondering if I should disconnect the keel and see if that affects the rattle.

2. Yes, I ran the motor on the hose with the pump pulled. No noise, but like I said I don’t have the noise during my idle out from the ramp. I’m wondering if the heated shaft is pushing the bearing to the side. I’m not confident that the shaft will heat up much running at idle on the hose.

3. It’s hard to be confident in the greasing process. I’m going to try the gear lube recommendation.

4. I have used mechanic’s stethoscope to listen to a variety of components: bearing housing (multiple locations), but i didn’t find anything roaring. I’m thinking that the rubber damper may also be damping any bearing vibration. I’ll spend some more time with this.

5. I will check the engine mounts. I have not done this, but I have put my hand on both valve covers (starboard and port). Didn’t seem like much difference, but I’ll double check.

while you are at it angle the boat down in the front if you have it on a trailer, remove the pump cone and use the plastic syringe DENTAL TYPY to inject 3 or 4 syringes of gear lube in the pump housing and then clan the cone seal O RING and reinstall the cone that will make the pump last a lot longer You may just have a bad spark plug or electrical connection causing the engine to have have a intermittent skip MISFIRE

 

[Aqua Jetaway]

Looks like @anmut nailed it. I noticed this evening that the noise immediately went away when I turned the steering wheel all the way to port. It repeated every time I turned all the way to port.

Interestingly, it doesn’t stop rattling when i turn all the way to starboard. Sounds like some improved bushings will likely fix the issue. It was well after dark when we came in tonight, so I plan to inspect the connections and pivot points much closer in the morning.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and recommendations. This is far and away the most helpful user group on the internet.