Boat starts, won't go into gear

[Mmomatt]

Hello guys bought a used boat, it's a 87 century, with a 3.8 omc, i/o, took it out went about 100ft half on the throttle, popped out of gear, engine revved, took it out of gear shut it off and towed it home. Still starts, we checked the linkage, the lever on the engine moves into gear but wont engage. We have it out of the water, removed the prop, started it with muffs, and the gear does not spin either direction. We have been hearing coupler or gearbox, any suggestions?

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,.... I thought the 3.8l was dead, 'n gone, long before '87,....

So which OMC Drive is behind it,..??

Oughta be a Cobra,..??

 

[Mmomatt]

It might be an 86, not sure, all I was told was it's omc all the way in terms of th engine, new boat owner, know the basics but not a lot when it comes to the motor, seeing if I can do this or bring it to a shop. The prop is brand new, but the engine and rest of the boat is what came with it.

 

[Mmomatt]

On the engine itself it has OMC 3.8, then the following, ignition timing 10 btdc, spark plug gap .035, point gap 0.8, distributor dwell 37-41, tried attaching pics but keeps telling me the file is corrupted....any help is greatly appreciated, put too much money in it to give up now, thanks.

 

[kenny nunez]

It is probably an 800 series and the water pump and pinion shaft splines are gone.

 

[southkogs]

Mmomatt You needed three posts before you could put any photos up. Go ahead and attach one now. Best to see what you're dealing with.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Howdy,

Welcome aboard!

You're going to need to find the model number of the engine drive combination if you can. The 3.8L engine was 1985 and earlier.

The model number will look like the following

382FTMRCOM 1985
382SPMRCOM 1985
382STMRCOM 1985
384FTMRCOM 1985
384SPMRCOM 1985
384STMRCOM 1985

You can go to http://epc.brp.com/ to see part numbers and illustrations.

Regards,

Rick

 

[Mmomatt]

No Title

 

[southkogs]

I can't make sense of the model number on there. Is your outdrive white? I'm thinking you have a Stringer.

If so, then there's a good chance that your lower drive shaft is stripped.