Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive won't separate from bell housing.

[blackrider]

I have all of the bolts off of the assembly, hydraulic trim is disconnected, gear is in forward but the damn thing won't budge. All of the internet videos show the lower unit just falling off after the bolts were pulled. I took a phenolic wedge and tried to hammer in between the halves to separate them with no luck. I tapped around the bolts with a dead blow hammer too. Am I missing something or should I not be scared to use something else to separate the halves??

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive won't separate from bell housing.

You never hammer anything to remove a drive. How about some history and why your removing it.
Are you removing the unit as a whole or trying to split the unit.

 

[blackrider]

Re: Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive won't separate from bell housing.

I am removing the drive to change the bellows, gimbal bearing, impeller and check alignment. The boat was purchased from an original owner and he said he has never removed the drive since he bought it brand new. It is an 89 Wellcraft 170 classic. 3.0 L Mercruiser. Boat has about 500 hours of freshwater only usage.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive won't separate from bell housing.

/talk about lack of service.
re-install the rams, make sure drive is lowered all the way.
insert a 2 x 4 cut to size to go between the top of the drive and the transom
GENTLY operate trin to raise drive ,this forces drive off.
Add additional spacing and do it again GENTLY untill drive comes off. dont be surprised for the gimbal bearing to come out with the shaft. more like rusted to it.

 

[blackrider]

Re: Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive won't separate from bell housing.

Wow that's an awesome idea! Thank you for this info. The guy I bought it from was 96 yrs old, he reminded me like 5 times how old he was when I test drove the boat. He moved pretty good for his age too. He did tell me that he never took it off. Now I am kind of fearful of what I will find. stay tuned for the drama!

Thanks again.

 

[airshot]

Re: Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive won't separate from bell housing.

Good luck on your dissassembly, you are about to become quite educated on sterndrives. Just thought I might give a suggestion when the times comes for reassembly, I always coat everything with a thin film of grease before assembly and have never had an issue with things sticking. You will find the removal and inspection of the outdrive should be done at the close of each boating season. If everything
is properly coated with grease (even the painted contact surfaces) the removal will be quite easy.

Airshot

 

[blackrider]

Re: Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive won't separate from bell housing.

Thanks airshot. I have been reading up on this forum for a few months now gearing up for everything I can do to make sure this boat is in good shape. I've watched videos on youtube about the disassembly and read more posts by Don S and that AHUY guy than there are words in the bible! LOL The lower unit is off, gimbal bearings out and bellows are about to go to the graveyard.

 

[blackrider]

Re: Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive won't separate from bell housing.

Just wanted to give a quick update about the boat. Even though this guy says he never took the lower unit off, his greasing frequency obviously works well. The bellows were dry but there was so much grease all over the place that this bearing really didn't even feel bad. I replaced it anyway.