Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

[Glaspar_Fan]

I'm getting some water in the sterndrive oil - an SE 106 equivalent to Alpha 1 - and am planning on replacing all the oil seals and O-rings. I'm very familiar with normal mechanic stuff but I could always learn more from people with experience. One big question I have, is it necessary to take the huge bearing retainer nut off to get to the seals in the upper housing? Looks like it to me, but I'm not looking forward to buying or making a wrench for that thing. If it does have to come off, any suggestions on how to encourage it? I'm soaking it with Liquid Wrench now and figure a small amount of heat will help.

Are there any other hints or helps you can share for the rest of the seals too? I've checked through a lot of old posts, but the information out there is pretty sketchy. Even the manual seems to be pretty basic, more oriented to full disassembly and reassembly.

Thanks,

John

 

[Bondo]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

Even the manual seems to be pretty basic, more oriented to full disassembly and reassembly.

Ayuh,... That's because that's pretty much what has to be done....

There really ain't no short cuts, 'n ya Need a pile of specialty tools to do it....

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

Dont try without the proper tool ,torque on that is 200Ft/lbs.
Hammer and chisel make you shoprite qualified in the lunchonette section.

 

[Don S]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

The hint I would give is to drain the gear lube and do a pressure check of the drive to find the leak. 99% of the leaks are in locations that don't require a lot of special tools.
Have you pulled the drive and checked the bellows for water? The front seal of the drive was not designed to keep water out, the bellows is supposed to do that. How about the drain and vent plugs. Been reusing the same ole tired pressed paper gaskets?

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

I'm getting some water in the sterndrive oil - an SE 106 equivalent to Alpha 1 - and am planning on replacing all the oil seals and O-rings.

You've already got members of the "A" team responding giving you advice but I've just got to throw this out there since you did not mention it in your post:
SEI drives have a 3 year fault free warranty so you're already past the 3 years so SEI is not going to replace the drive?

Mark

 

[Glaspar_Fan]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

From the responses already, looks like I'm in for a real chore. The outdrive is off the boat and there wasn't water in the drive shaft bellows. I have no paperwork from the previous owner on the outdrive and no way of telling how old it really is. It is clear that he had it in the water (salt water) for a couple of years. The reason I decided to change the seals was I separated the upper and lower halves and looked up into the upper where the drive shaft goes. I can see some pieces of the lower of the two seals up there so it definitely replacing. It's possible that the top one is OK, but if one needs to be replaced, it's no more work to do both as near as I can tell.

On the lower end, I'll replace the water pump then maybe put things back together for a pressure test before dismantling the lower half. Drain and vent plugs look good - looks like nylon washers in good shape on both.

What I would really like to do is buy a new unit, but cashflow is just real tight right now. The unit shows some definite wear, and someone (NOT me) already managed to knock off one of the big teeth on the bearing retainer nut. I'm making my own wrench out of scrap steel I have laying around. Bearings and gears look good. I figure I'll do my best on my own and see how far I get. If things work out and it just costs the price of the seals, good. Otherwise I'll start an outdrive fund. It'll be a learning experience no matter what.

Thank you for the advice,

John

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

You can buy the bearing retainer tool on ebay for short money. But find the leak first, 14 psi and shoot it with soapy solution to check for bubbles. You can make a pressure tester with the shaft from a rubber valve stem, a small hose clamp and the tube & threaded fixture from a drive oil pump. Just grind down the valve to a diameter that will fit into the tube and clamp it off.
With the drive empty of oil, pump it to 14 and check for air leaks.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

I made a bearing retainer tool for the lower end using qty 4 1/2 square steel sections welded to a section of heavy pipe. I ground the 1/2 steel sections to get a tight fit on the outsiide dia. and clamped them in place while holding them against the bearing retainer before welding to ensure all 4 shared the load against the soft retainer.

I then used a large pipe wrench on the carrier tool I made ( above) with a few make shift bushings inside it to keep it aligned to the prop shaft and square to the drive.

My retainer nut had not been out in 22 years from what I can tell and it was corroded in place. After repeated heat cycles I was able get get it to budge using a large pipe wrench attached to my tool, a mallett and someone standing on my drive.

If you take your time & be careful but it can be done ( assuming you have the fab tools). Its Just a matter of time verses money. In my case I had a long winter to do it. My wife thinks its related to how stubborn I can be. Where does she get that from ????

 

[Glaspar_Fan]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

Well, I gave up on my wrench. Already had a few hours into it and it was clear that getting it trimmed to perfection was going to take several more. In case anyone is wondering, I took some scrap plate, cut 8 holes in a circle then sawed out the center. That was the easy part. Getting everything lined up and trimmed with a file was just taking too long. So I ordered the $40 wrench on eBay. We'll see how well that works. I like the idea of using 1/2" square stock welded to a bit of pipe. Anyone else thinking to make their own wrench might want to give that a shot.

I have my upper half clamped to two forks bolted to an engine stand. I thought that was a neat idea and now I'm really patting myself on the back. It made it real easy to rotate so I could get to the lower of the two seals. A slide hammer with a hook popped the seal out just like in a text book. At least something is working as it should. With that seal (nothing left of it but a bit of rubber and the steel rim) out of the way, I could just barely see the edge of the other seal. It's definitely bad too. The gear that goes through it wiggles too easily - not getting any resistance from the seal.

Got a question though. I'm figuring on removing the bearing retainer nut, then removing the entire assembly (gears, shaft, u-joints, yoke) as a unit. Is that the right way to go? There might be enough room to get a flat wrench in and remove the small retaining nut at the end of the shaft and slip the shaft (with the u-joints) out before removing the large retaining nut and the gear/bearing cluster. Anyone tried that?

Thanks,

John

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Hints needed for replacing Alpha 1 seals

they probably removed one tooth from the bearing retainer nut to be able to change a u-joint without removing the nut... I'd let you come by and borrow the tools, if you lived about 3000 miles closer... sorry, couldn't resist. good luck with it. and I would definately do the pressure test before you start tearing into things. you might be better off than you think...

regardign disassembly, follow the service manual to a t.