1972 omc outdrive gear

[lynnjesse13]

Hows it going my name is Jesse. I recently bought a boat made in 1972 title is ore fiberglass and has a omc 225 outdrive in it with a 305 chevy motor Just yesterday had launched it in the water for the first time of owning it. As I was traveling 30mph in forward gear the within a 1./4 of a mile the boat stopped moving making a strange sound it will not engage in forward or reverse but the motor will just spin. The boat does have electric shift. Is there anyone that still has an electric shift outdrive and have you had this problem before or is there an outdrive that I could upgrade to? All information would be great thanks guys and happy boating

 

[Frank Acampora]

I believe that the electric shift was default to forward gear so in the event that the wires broke or the solenoids failed you could still get back home. Before you go too far, check the "spider" This is a gear shaped thing that connects the engine to the outdrive where the outdrive tilts.

 

[lynnjesse13]

Ok so I got the boat started back up and checked the spider gear or the ball gears the engine rotates the the ball gear on the engine side and then turns the ball gear on the outdrive side from there going in forward and and reverse still no movement in the propeller.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

common failure is stripping of the splines on the shaft that connects the upper gearcase to the lower inside the outdrive. The shaft is called the water pump shaft as it also turns the water pump impeller. If that's the issue and you continue to idle the engine, it will begin to overheat as the impeller isn't turning.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

oh... and of course, the rubber hub or shear pin that drives your propeller may have gone south. Try a spare prop.

 

[lynnjesse13]

Well I know what it is. I did some tests to trouble shot the issues. I wanted to make sure it was not any part of the electric shift so I tested that out turned power on and put the boat in forward went down to spin the prop and it has force on it now as the it shifted into gear. So not the prop and not the electric shift. pulled the exhaust housing cover off and the cover under that to take a look at the upper gear case and sure enough see signs of water and metal shavings looks like its time to try to rebuild the upper.

On a scale from 1 to 10 how difficult do you think this is?