I recently installed a new water pump impeller in my Alpha. When I had it apart, I noticed that if I rotated the drive shaft (with no oil in) that it felt a little rough and made a rattling sound in the lower gear case. If I pulled up on the drive shaft it was smooth and quiet. The drive had been running all summer with no problems and old oil had no water and no metal particles. It looks as if the drive shaft and pinion gear on the bottom are not supported in the vertical other than the pinion resting on the fwd/rev gears. I assume that under load the backlash in the gears is forced upwards against the tapered bearing just under the oil seal carrier. There was the slightest amount of up/down play in the drive shaft. I am wondering if this is normal for the drive? Also , I found a Sterndrive Engineering sticker hidden inside one of the cavities in the lower. Apparently, this is not the stock lower.
DG
DG
