800 stringer help

[full stringer]

I was out boating yesterday and on my way back to port cruising approx. 22mph the motor came out of gear and engine rpms shot up so i immediatly throttled back waited a few min and tried to put her in gear nothing happened in fwrd or revs. sut off motot raised outdrive to see if i lost my prop or something. it was there. took a glance at temp guage it was hot about 200 160 is normal so i let her cool off and tried again same issue not engaging in gear and high temp issue ( the craft is a 1984 22ft searay express cruiser 5.7 omc sterndrive 800 stringer outdrive) any help is appreciated thanks,all.

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: 800 stringer help

Chances are you stripped the splines on the water pump driveshaft due to lack of grease. Gonna have to split the drive and pull water pump to see. 'nutcase

 

[full stringer]

Re: 800 stringer help

will impeller shaft that cause a shifting into gear issue

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 800 stringer help

it causes the exact symptoms you describe

 

[jcole59946]

Re: 800 stringer help

it causes the exact symptoms you describe

Exact same thing happened on our 1985 Chris Craft w/ the 5.7 OMC 800. As it turns out the splines were stripped. I think what caused our issue is there was water leaking into the outdrive. Eventually this wore down the splines. The actual break down occurred when I had 10 people in the boat. The added weight was the final blow.

I would recommend checking to see if there's any water in the outdrive gear grease.

 

[full stringer]

Re: 800 stringer help

thanks to all of you!! i was afraid it might be the engine coupler that would be way expensive i will replace impeller and shaft if that's it lets hope. anyone know what this should cost in parts and labor if i choose not to do myself?

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 800 stringer help

I think what caused our issue is there was water leaking into the outdrive. Eventually this wore down the splines..

no, those splines are outside of the oil compartment.
They are in the lake water 100% of their life. That's why it's so important to grease them every 2 to 3 years when the impeller is changed.
When people neglect the impeller service, or use cheap grease, the splines are the victim.
A trailer boat might go 4 or 5 years if used infrequently and proper grease is used.

 

[dan t.]

Re: 800 stringer help

carefully inspect the splines on the upper gearcase output they could be in just as bad of shape as the waterpump shaft. several years ago I had a 800 strip on me, I had to replace the upper gearcase output shaft as well as the waterpump shaft

 

[full stringer]

Re: 800 stringer help

thanks i will be inspecting everything i can see when i split the cases apart i forgot to mention now when i try to put in gear with motor running it dies immeadiately is this normal for stripped shafts or is something broke and jamming up thanks again, you all seem very experienced on this this

 

[WizeOne]

Re: 800 stringer help

thanks i will be inspecting everything i can see when i split the cases apart i forgot to mention now when i try to put in gear with motor running it dies immeadiately is this normal for stripped shafts or is something broke and jamming up thanks again, you all seem very experienced on this this

How is the oil level in the upper gearbox?

 

[full stringer]

Re: 800 stringer help

it was full before i went out boating, well maybe a tad higher than the level line on dipstick i also put a little 80-90 hi-viz in the intermediate housing fill i had just checked all levels the night before and all was clean and no signs of water intrusion dont know about intermediate housing because i just topped it off with barely any fluid

 

[full stringer]

Re: 800 stringer help

How is the oil level in the upper gearbox?

full

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 800 stringer help

now when i try to put in gear with motor running it dies immeadiately

Some bearing piled up or something... a stripped shaft causes an opposite sypmptom- there would be no load on the engine with a stripped shaft.

you have bigger problems.

 

[full stringer]

Re: 800 stringer help

Some bearing piled up or something... a stripped shaft causes an opposite sypmptom- there would be no load on the engine with a stripped shaft.

you have bigger problems.

i could start the engine just after it happened (reved and went into no gear that is) and try to put it in gear engine would rev and would not engage but after i got towed back and tried at the dock it would kill the motor if i tried

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 800 stringer help

my guess as to the chain of events (alternate title:" death of a neglected sterndrive"):

1. Your lower unit completely destroyed itself - fwd or reverse clutch welded to propshaft with debris
2. the last remaining splines of the neglected/worn w/p spline stripped due to the lower unit's internal suicide pile-up
3. after the w/p shaft was spinning for a few minutes at molten temps in the stripped upper vertical shaft, engine was shut off and it all cooled down and everything molten welded itself together in a nice strong ugly blob

(I'll bet that when the engine now stalls, the whole drive shudders and kicks hard over one way)

 

[wire2]

Re: 800 stringer help

A simple test for impeller function is, with boat in the water, undo the clamp on the 3/4" black hose going to the thermostat housing, (coming from the steering heat exchanger along the rocker cover) and remove the hose from the housing. Start the engine, there should be water running out of the hose, several quarts a minute. The volume of water will increase with engine rpm.

Since you can start it in neutral and shift it into gear, means the coupler and upper gear case seem ok, but that it stalls the engine means a lower problem.

With the shifter in neutral, can you turn the prop both directions by hand? Shifting into forward OR reverse stalls it? I'm thinking the lower unit shift mechanism is broken/damaged, and it's trying to engage both directions at once.

 

[full stringer]

Re: 800 stringer help

yes when in neutral the prop spins very freely and when in reverse or forward it has resistance but still will turn and theres no wierd sounds in the upper or lower case either. the engine now is starting while i have it in gear thats scary probably a neutral safety switch gone bad ? it shifts towards reverse more easier than forward but its been that way for a while now

 

[wire2]

Re: 800 stringer help

The neutral start switch is mounted on the shift converter, which is bolted to the back of the engine, just behind the distributor. It sounds like something is loose.

The ESA switch is also on there, and that may be out of adjustment, causing it to stall with a shift.

Have a close look at it while someone operates the shift from the helm.

 

[full stringer]

Re: 800 stringer help

ok ill do that what exactly am i looking for when shifting and what does the esa and neutral safety look like

 

[wire2]

Re: 800 stringer help

Follow the black shift cable to the back of the engine, just behind the distributor. It terminates at the shift converter, which is mounted on 2 gold colored hex posts. There's 2 small black switches on the cover plate, the one with adjustable nylon cams is the neutral start switch. It should be NOT depressed in neutral, and depressed in fwd or rev.

The other switch is for ESA, it will be depressed when there's resistance to shifting into neutral. It will have 2 wires going to a rubber connector, then on to the black ESA module mounter on the intake manifold, just behind the carb. When depressed, it cuts out every other cylinder's spark to slow the engine momentarily, allows the shifter to release to neutral.

Have a look in the manual, it will be laid out with drawings.