general outdrive maintenance Q's

[1993 Celebrity 4.3]

Hi all. I'm looking for some general info on routine outdrive maintenance guidelines on my 4.3 Merc alpha outdrive. Are ALL the internals greasable from the outside? Is it neccessary to have any routine maintenence done that would require the lower unit being pulled? I've been told by some people that they have the water pump impellars changed every couple years regardless. What are the thoughts on this?

I had planned to take the boat in for a general lower unit service but don't want to pay for uneccessary services.

Thanks guys!!

 

[tommays]

Re: general outdrive maintenance Q's

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/14/14b1.pdf

This is the general maintenance guideline

It does not go into things like changeing the driveshaft bellows every 5 years ect ect

Tommays

 

[sarantis]

Re: general outdrive maintenance Q's

My friend if you don't pay some money for a periodical maintenance you'll pay much more later and futhermore you will ever be anxious about reaching your destination.if you don't want to spent much money and you don't trust the marine mecanic the best you can do is to get the service manual (ask the masters about the relative links)and start from the easy tasks.You need time and patience and to neglect a little your wife!

 

[1993 Celebrity 4.3]

Re: general outdrive maintenance Q's

My friend if you don't pay some money for a periodical maintenance you'll pay much more later and futhermore you will ever be anxious about reaching your destination.if you don't want to spent much money and you don't trust the marine mecanic the best you can do is to get the service manual (ask the masters about the relative links)and start from the easy tasks.You need time and patience and to neglect a little your wife!

 

[1993 Celebrity 4.3]

Re: general outdrive maintenance Q's

Thanks for the input. I totally agree with you sarantis that a little spent now will save a lot later and have no problem spending the money. I'm just trying to establish what exactly should be done, how often, and wether it involves dropping the drive. If it does, I'm not savvy enough to want to tackle it.

 

[sarantis]

Re: general outdrive maintenance Q's

Ok then, if you want to do good job it's a little difficult without spendig some time to read the manual.The checking of impeller ,bellows,gimbal bearing is a must,change some gaskets and grease the crosses and the gimbal bearing.To do these things you have to seperate the lower from the uper unit and then pull out the upper unit.Keep in mind that every screw you unscrew is not waste of time.corrosion espasially from salt water destroys and sticks everything.After some years you may need one or more days to fix a screw with broken head.Do not also neglect to paint any spoilt surface.