Re: How do you tell what the gear ratio is?
If you can't read the ratio stamped on the sticker, another way is to remove the top cover on your existing outdrive and count the teeth both on the
'drive gear' which is the vertical gear attached to the driveshaft that heads in to the engine, then count the teeth on the
'driven gear' which is (the horizontal gear) below the drive gear that the drive gear meshes with.<br /><br />The 1.98 ratio drive gear should have 20 teeth.<br />The DRIVEN gear should have 24 teeth.<br /><br />You'll have to drain a little bit of gear lube out in order to count the 'driven gear' teeth.<br /><br />If you have the slightest doubt in your mind about the one you are looking at buying....<br /><br />Do the same thing.. remove the cover and manually count the teeth on both gears.<br /><br />If someone changed the gears in that newer unit at one time in it's life the sticker ratio stamped on the outside of the drive is not going to match what's in there for gears.<br /><br />Just went thru this whole ordeal with my own outdrive ratio dilema, and decided the most fool proof way of knowing 100 percent for sure! - was to just count the teeth. It only takes about 15 minutes to remove the cover, count the teeth and throw her back together.
