frostylemonade
Recruit
- Joined
- May 29, 2020
- Messages
- 1
Hello Friends,
I have an 1994 19' Reinell bowrider that the previous owner replaced the original engine (not sure what was in it) with a rebuilt Chevy 350. It has what I am assuming is the original Alpha One Gen II drive (1.65 ratio).
On a recent fishing trip, the engine shut down suddenly on the ride home (cruise speed ~30 mph) and would not restart. The starter would just make a clunking noise, but could not turn the engine over. It seemed as though the engine had seized. After an impromptu camping trip, we were able to get towed back to the ramp the next morning and made it home safely.
When I got home, I removed the spark plugs from the engine and attempted to manually turn the engine with a breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt. It could rotate a few inches back and forth before being stopped, with a metal on metal sound. The sound seemed to be coming from the lower unit rather than the engine. We removed the drive (although now I would have looked into the inspection cover on top first) and the engine now rotates freely.
Upon removing the inspection cover, I found the upper set of gears to have broken off several teeth - I will try to upload a few pics. So now I'm looking into whether it makes more sense to repair (this would be a boat shop repair - much out of my league) or replace the drive (likely an SEI unit).
-Any thoughts on what might have happened to the gears - or does this sort of thing just happen on a 25 year old drive? Drive oil was full and clean before the trip.
-Is a complete SEI drive likely to be the most economical and fastest way of getting back on the water?
-Thoughts on gear ratio? The boat runs well and I have it propped correctly for the 1.65 gears, but I understand from my research that 1.50 gears are the standard offering for a 350 engine. Any benefits to one or the other? If I do end up having to buy a new unit, I guess this would be the time to change.
Any feedback or guidance is greatly appreciated.
I have an 1994 19' Reinell bowrider that the previous owner replaced the original engine (not sure what was in it) with a rebuilt Chevy 350. It has what I am assuming is the original Alpha One Gen II drive (1.65 ratio).
On a recent fishing trip, the engine shut down suddenly on the ride home (cruise speed ~30 mph) and would not restart. The starter would just make a clunking noise, but could not turn the engine over. It seemed as though the engine had seized. After an impromptu camping trip, we were able to get towed back to the ramp the next morning and made it home safely.
When I got home, I removed the spark plugs from the engine and attempted to manually turn the engine with a breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt. It could rotate a few inches back and forth before being stopped, with a metal on metal sound. The sound seemed to be coming from the lower unit rather than the engine. We removed the drive (although now I would have looked into the inspection cover on top first) and the engine now rotates freely.
Upon removing the inspection cover, I found the upper set of gears to have broken off several teeth - I will try to upload a few pics. So now I'm looking into whether it makes more sense to repair (this would be a boat shop repair - much out of my league) or replace the drive (likely an SEI unit).
-Any thoughts on what might have happened to the gears - or does this sort of thing just happen on a 25 year old drive? Drive oil was full and clean before the trip.
-Is a complete SEI drive likely to be the most economical and fastest way of getting back on the water?
-Thoughts on gear ratio? The boat runs well and I have it propped correctly for the 1.65 gears, but I understand from my research that 1.50 gears are the standard offering for a 350 engine. Any benefits to one or the other? If I do end up having to buy a new unit, I guess this would be the time to change.
Any feedback or guidance is greatly appreciated.
Last edited:
