Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

[VTcivicHB]

It's a 1992 Stingray 556zp with a 3.0 and a Merc Alpha 1 Gen II. I bought this boat for $800 dollars and it'd been sitting in my buddies parents backyard for years.

Anyways I just replaced the starter and finally put it in the water last weekend. Everything was going great until I tried to engage it into gear. Basically it revved and never engaged. I'm not sure if you you can see it but at 12 oclock there's a hairline fracture on the lower unit above the prop.

When I took the prop off the coupler basically was loose like a washer might be an came out after the prop. Also, when I turn the prop by hand out of the water there is no resistance in either direction.

I got a prices on lower units and it's going to run in the $750-800 range, hopefully there's a cheaper solution.





Also when I dumped the boat in I noticed that the boat had taken in a ton of water in the 2 minutes that I had it on the water. I was thinking that this was a leak of such magnitude that it could only be caused by a tear in one of the bellows. Does that sound right?

 

[nola mike]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

Also, when I turn the prop by hand out of the water there is no resistance in either direction.

sounds like it's in neutral.

Also when I dumped the boat in I noticed that the boat had taken in a ton of water in the 2 minutes that I had it on the water. I was thinking that this was a leak of such magnitude that it could only be caused by a tear in one of the bellows. Does that sound right?

yeah, i'd check them for sure. and of course, make sure your plug's in

 

[VTcivicHB]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

It acts like it's in Neutral but the shift lever is engaged into gear, all the cables are taught and in working order. So.....

Also the plug was in, I barely remembered at the last second before I dumped it in

Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated, I've done a ton of research and this is my last ditch effort before I start coughing a up a ton of dough to have it diagnosed/ fixed by a mechanic.

 

[6meter]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

Water situation seems likely that the u-joint drive bellow has a hole in it. As far as the in gear thing, My first reaction was that you have the neutral button pushed in or the shifter is messed up.

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

Try disconnecting your lower shift cable at the engine. Push in on the cable and see if it goes into fwd. The prop will lock when spun CCW and ratchet when spun CW. Then pull on the cable for Rev The prop should lock when spun CW and ratchet when spun CCW You can also look up under the front of you lower unit ind check the position of the little brass foot Viewed from the top Strait fwd is Fwd gear aprox 1100 is nuetral 1000 is reverse. That will help you determine if its the outdrive or the cable going to it. Tho the loose did u say coupler? doesnt sound good Not sure what you mean by coupler on lower unit

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

And yeah a torn bellows will let a bunch of water in Pay special attn to the shift cable bellows as you are also having shift problems Did the cable break and bull out of the bellows { the small bellows to the right of the exhaust bellows/boot}

 

[VTcivicHB]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

So basically nothing is wrong with the prop and crack in the lower unit is nothing to worry about???

I'll try messing with the shift cable this afternoon and take some more pictures this afternoon. Thanks for all the help.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

No, a crack CAN be a problem. But the logical thing is to start with the step mentioned above to see if the gears function.

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

plz expain what you ment by the coupler ? are you talking the prop itself ? prop shaft? I cant figure exactl what you mean

 

[VTcivicHB]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

The part I'm referring to is the threaded piece behind the prop (picture attached). From what I understand that part should be showing and the prop should be more or less flush w/ the lower unit.

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

OK gotchya That def isnt right That things coming apart on you Just looked at mine cant see any of those threads and about 1/2 of that little recessed area on the leading edge of the prop hub goes inside of the outdrive. Cant give advice I would just be guessing Fortunantly this site is full of experts to guide you.. Anyone??? good luck!

 

[fat fanny]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

My best advise is to not run that thing again under it's own power to you get that retainer nut back in the hub of that outdrive which involves more than exspected the reason your not engaging is most likley the prop shaft is probably not in the hub far enough to engage the gear of the verticle shaft with the gear on the prop shaft and before that can be done you need to find out why it became that way. Plus this will involve a qualified tech and specialized tools. If you don't have a merc service manual you'll need one!!!!!! PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you a attachment to mine a.s.a.p Good luck

 

[dubs283]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

that crack in the drive is probably what caused the carrier retainer to unthread

how that crack came to be there who knows, possibly a freeze crack from snow melting then freezing over and over?? hit something hard before the boat sat for years??

in any case, the drive needs to come off, check engine coupler wear/alignment, disassemble clean and inspect all drive components

if the reverse gear moved aft (towards the prop) at all, that could mean possible gear failure from running it (with all components properly working, alpha 1 gears are always spinning whether or not you are "in gear")

 

[VTcivicHB]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

that crack in the drive is probably what caused the carrier retainer to unthread

how that crack came to be there who knows, possibly a freeze crack from snow melting then freezing over and over?? hit something hard before the boat sat for years??

in any case, the drive needs to come off, check engine coupler wear/alignment, disassemble clean and inspect all drive components

if the reverse gear moved aft (towards the prop) at all, that could mean possible gear failure from running it (with all components properly working, alpha 1 gears are always spinning whether or not you are "in gear")

Okay so I attached some pictures. As you may notice there is a massive amount of shaft play (in/out), I assume that it should not be like this. I also found 2 tears in the rubber bellows so it looks like I've resolved 1 of 2 problems.

As you can tell the retainer is destroyed, there is quite a few cracks inside & outside the lower unit. I took the shift cable off the engine and hand actuated it like suggested; still it did not engage. I have to take the outdrive off to repair the bellows, does it make sense to try and replace the lower unit or is this all fixable?

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

Yeah you definantly found where the water was coming from U joint bellows and shift cable bellows both would allow water into the boat .. You have your work cut out for you. You know your lower unit is in need of medical help and if that u joint bellows crack was there for awhile there has prob been water in side the bellows whick may have rusted your u joints and gimble bearing. Maybey it just happened tho and thats not the case [u joint bellows Hole] You may just neeb a shift cable bellows, or maybe the whole lower cable Depends if water has gotten inside of cable or not. Either way, you have a job on your hands Best of luck

 

[VTcivicHB]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

Based on the cracks in the lower unit, play in the shaft, and inability to engage into gear is it safe to say I should replace the lower unit and not bother messing with new bearings, couplers, etc?

 

[Divecaptchris]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

I replaced my alpha 1 with a new unit from sterndirve eng. 2 1/2 years its been great, cheap and a 3 year FAULT free warantee! American made! outa tampa fl. Heres a link

http://www.sterndrive.cc/mm5/mercha...gory_Code=MercruiserAlphaGenIILowerSterndrive

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

You have your work cut out for you.

True enough to repeat - you have your work cut out for you!

Instead of simply replacing the lower unit, I suggest thinking long and hard about replacing the entire thing as the u joints are probably toast as well. You also need to pull it off and check the condition of you gimbal bearing. You will be replacing all your bellows and the shift cable as well.

Lot of work!

You can also buy the outdrive here on Iboats. I too think you will be better off with a new unit from Sterndrive Engineering.

 

[VTcivicHB]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

Thanks for the advise, I just need somebody who's had experience in this type of situation to to tell me if it's the Lower Unit or if its something else.

 

[fat fanny]

Re: Alpha 1 unable to engage into gear (photos inside)

As the guys said for all the unknowns you may run into and the cost of someone to look @ it will most likely add uo to the cost of the new unit minus the gimbal bearing and bellows. I think you will find that is going to be the concensus from everyone here