Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

[sailornsea]

I need to replace my impeller and have removed all the mounting hardware per the maintenance manual, but my lower unit will not separate from the upper drive assy. Just wondering if it is normally this difficult and will I damage anything by prying it apart with a couple of screw drivers? I have a 1987 Alpha One. Any other suggestions?

 

[jhansen106]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

You see that there is a place for you to put a screw driver in to pry it apart. It may be a little tight if it has not been apat in some time but this is normal.

 

[kdmiller8251]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <br /><br />DO NOT PRY IT APART....<br />There are other ways to get it apart...<br />the metal is very soft and you will most likely ruin it... trust me I KNOW!!! it cost me 1500.00<br /><br />DO a search on here.. There are tons of other ways to get it apart

 

[outboardguy]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

You should have removed one 5/8 nut from the front,two 5/8 nuts from the sides, two 5/8 nuts from under the anti-ventilation plate(above the prop) and loosened the 3/8 allen bolt to remove the trim tab to access the 5/16 allen under the tab.If all of these fasteners are removed then it should come apart.The only place I might try to gently pry is between the studs and plate on the side of the drive. This location reduces scratches and is usually very effective. Good Luck

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Dont forget the allen bolt under the zinc fin.Thats usually the one that people forget to remove.When you are sure that all nuts and bolts are out then you can slowly begin to tap a screwdriver in the slot especially for prying.When you get it to move a little then go to the opposite side and make sure you do it evenly.If you use plenty of grease when putting it back together and split it every other year,it will always come apart easily.Charlie

 

[BMDODGE]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

DITO TO THAT

 

[labzman3]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Do not try prying !!!! I had the same problem,, I put a block of wood between gimbal housing and transom plate,,, and then kept dropping the gear housing till she popped out ,, almost on my toes !! I think what is holding it in place is the 2 rubber O rings on the drive shaft,, I believe they have to pull thru the center of the gimbal bearing ?? You'll probably also have somewhat of a tough time getting it to go back together the last couple of inches,,, once again,, I believe because of those 2 O rings,, I finally pushed hard enough and it slid right together...

 

[fireship1]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Hello, Some good tips. You can also use a light weight plastic dead blow hammer. A large rubber mallet also works well. Tap it with slight downward pressure around the cavitation plate and on both sides of the lower housing. DO NOT use any kind of metal hammer! I had this problem also last season. The rapping with the dead blow popped it loose a little bit at a time until I could pull it free. Keep the two nuts loose on both sides of the housing (the ones in the pockets on both sides) but keep them in place. They will keep the lower from falling to the ground when it starts to break free. Lube all the studs, locating dowels and drive shaft splines with 24C Merc grease when reinstalling. Don't lube the top of the drive shaft, however. The grease in that spot will cause excessive downward pressure that could damage the lower gears and bearings. Just a quick note to Labzman3, Good advice but wrong part! He needs to split the upper housing from the lower housing to change his impeller. Not pull the whole drive from the bell housing. It was a good tip for outdrive removal though!

 

[labzman3]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Whoops !!! I didn't read the post carefully enough !! I thought he was trying to get whole outdrive out. When I seperated my lower half,, I had to take a block of water,, over the cavitaion plate and gently keep tapping with a hammer. It eventually worked loose. Don't forget that little O ring for the oil passange,, when putting it all back together !!!

 

[BinLurkin]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

I just went through that too. I forgot to take off the most forward nut but caught it before any serious prying or pounding. Once I removed that it fell right off, almost on my foot too. You may have trouble getting it back together if you try to do it by yourself. I farted around off & on for two days trying to do it myself. Finally I got the two neighbors to help & it just slid right on.

 

[sailornsea]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Thanks everyone...combination of above suggestions got it separated without any problems...hopefully it goes back together as easily and I'm back in the water next weekend!

 

[gustaria]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

I am still doing the same thing but I can find no allen bolt in the manual or on the unit. my drive is a 2005,Drive serial number 0W581501 Model number 5121200TS MERCRUISER ALPHA 1.47:1

 

[RL Gman]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Your kindof thread stealing here...but that's because you have the gen II outdrive, there is a bolt on the gen II's, not the allen bolt. You can locate it by taking of the rubber seal on the top, back of the outdrive...that will remove the trim tab(is that what it's called) and then the last bolt will be under that.

 

[gustaria]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

I dont know how all the thread stuff works, but sorry if i did something wrong. I had the mercruiser manual and the Iboat manual and they said a few different things, but I had that bolt off. It said to put the shifter in drive and disconnect the speedometer cable, but the main thing was it aint gonna come off easy some times. I moderately tapped it with a rubber mallot a million times slowly loosening it up and it came off. thanks and I will start a new thread if that is better. In my 22 IQ mind I wanted to save people from repeating already documented aspects of the subject, but........

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Save this in your file,it only applies to Series1, Alpha ,R,MR drives NOT Alpha GEN II`s

When trying to split a unit DO NOT USE A STEEL HAMMER OR TRY TO PRY THE UNIT APART
remove the front nut, the 2 bottom nuts, the allen bolt under the zinc
loosen the 2 side nuts ,insert a 7/16 ths open end wrench ABOVE the nuts on each side to act as a spacer.
loosening the nut will gently force the unit apart untill you can insert a prying device into the space from THE LEFT SIDE ONLY to fully separate the unit.

 

[elojs]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Hi everybody I was just reading these threads as I'am getting ready to change the water pump in my Mercury Alph one 1.81R to. Nobody has mentioned about the reassemby. My question , is there a sequence or a torque that has to be used on the bolts. And why do you need more than one person.My boat ia a Bayliner year 2000. This will be my first time doing this.You all have been realy helpful. THANKS

 

[RL Gman]

Re: Alpha One Lower gear housing separation

Do a search around iboats, you'll find a lot of info. If you still have questions, start up a new thread...you'll get many more and much more specific responses:redface: