Mercruiser trim broken

[marvinjansen]

I have an 1979 Aristocraft 19 with a Mercruiser 165 I bought after it had been sitting for several years. One trim cylinder is badly broken and the other is broken at the outer attach point. I just discovered that the place where the trim cylinders attach on the housing is also slightly cracked. It must have hit something at some time. A rope was holding up the drive since the cylinders were broken. What should I do now? I am very mechanical and do most of my own work. Can I use it with out the trim cylinders to just see if the rest of the system works, like the engine? I was told it was running fine when they parked it and my neighbor had no reason to not tell the truth. He sold it to me for a very reasonable price that was basically what the trailer was worth. Any advice appreciated.

 

[Alpheus]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

I just seen a boat yesterday that had a Mercruiser outdrive and had 2 pieces of 2x4 wood with holes drilled in each end bolted on to hold the drive at a fixed position. I'm not telling you to do this but it seemed to work for him...

 

[marvinjansen]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

great advice for a temporary fix to enable me to see what else works or doesn't. If the motor is good and I want to make the trim work, what should I do? Would a newer drive bolt up or do I need to repair the pre alpha?

 

[Alpheus]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

Just make sure the bellows are intact before you go throwing your boat in the water or your next post here will read "My boat sank Now What"

 

[marvinjansen]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

I looked at and felt the bellows and didn't find any holes. I guess I could put the boat in the water and watch for an inflow of water at the stern. I was thinking of replacing the impeller before I start it. Any experience with a failed impeller on one of these Mercruisers?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

Any experience with a failed impeller on one of these Mercruisers?

Ayuh,.... It'll Overheat...
If ya don't find ALL the broken missing pieces,.. It'll probably continue to Overheat..

 

[ziggy]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

I was thinking of replacing the impeller before I start it. Any experience with a failed impeller on one of these Mercruisers?

for sure, do that. i replace mine yearly.
failed impellers cause a lot of grief. melted water shutter that then falls off and plugs the exhaust sometimes. impeller pieces that flow up stream towards the engine. melted exhaust bellows (the part between the riser and exhaust pipe inside the boat). possible melted water pocket cover. engine damage due to over heat. probably more.. it's preventable. replace the impeller often for piece of mine. if your doing an impeller first time. ya might consider doing the housing too.

If the motor is good and I want to make the trim work, what should I do? Would a newer drive bolt up or do I need to repair the pre alpha?

ya don't need a new drive, but if the mount is broke, that would require a gimble ring replacement i'd think. i've not taken mine off, but it don't look easy to remove due to the design of the boat. to get the gimble ring off, ya gotta drift the pin at the top down. you can't access the top of the gimble ring on a nineteen. the boat is in the way. my best guess is full gimble housing removal is necessary to access the gimble ring on our boats. from what i understand. many parts are interchangeable from mc-1 thru alpha1. imho, further research will be necessary. i think the steering arm is different on the alhpa1 vs the mc-1. mc-1 is likely to have a few nla parts too.
imho, yer gonna have to have trim. i use mine all the time. every outing.

congrats on your puchase. these nineteens are really cool boats. just did my 4th year with mine. still lovin it.
what color did ya get? mines lime green..

there's an aristocraft forum here on iboats. ya might check that out.. http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=224

aristocraft boats is still somewhat up an running. http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=224 call them up for help too. Bill or Scott (the son and grandson of Claude who started arsitocraft) are real helpful. some oem boat parts are still available too.

edit. yer gonna need (must have item) a service manual. get the mercruiser one. you'll want #3 and #4.... check out the last post from Don S in this thread. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=2992680#post2992680
i'll bet them links are for 3 and 4...

 

[marvinjansen]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

Hi Ziggy,
My boat is white hull with blue top and seats. I saw pictures of yours and others that are inspiring me to restore this one. At this point I want to get it in the water and try it. If everything work like the PO said it did on his last trip, then I will proceed. How hard is it to replace the impeller? I've done it in Evinrude (15 n 18 easy), Honda( 5, easy), Yahama(4, hard to line up), Mercury (4, hard to line up).
I downloaded the Mercury service manual, haven't had a chance to read it yet.
Thinking of putting a temporary 2 x 4 trim rod to try out the boat. I put a screwdriver in the middle of 5 holes used to set trim and measured the distance between the 2 rods at 20/8". Any reason why this wouldn't work for a trial?
This forum is helpful

 

[Alpheus]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

Here is a link to the manual you need...

http://www.4shared.com/document/_nhtFGoc/Mercruiser_Service_Manual_01.html

 

[ziggy]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

Here is a link to the manual you need...

he says he has a '79. that would be s/m 3 and 4 i believe..

My boat is white hull with blue top and seats.

if i had my choice, which i didn't, i would have gotten the blue one. blue is my favorite color..

If everything work like the PO said it did

generally speaking. take what the po says with a grain of salt. if you were buying, i'd say don't believe the po. they have motivation to lie or at least stretch the truth..
your gonna have to do your own asssement of the condition the boat is in. this will take some time, research and plain ol looking and then digging in to find out whats ok and what's not ok.

How hard is it to replace the impeller?

not hard, not easy. read the s/m on the proceedure. it's explained very well in the mercruiser s/m. fwiw. ya may consider removeing the drive. there is pm to do to the drive which requires drive removal. + it's much easier to separate the lower from the upper while it's on the bench. actually, removing the lower isn't to hard, it's putting it back while the upper is still on the boat that is a drag. 2 people job for sure. on the bench, it's a 1 person job.
a drive stand will help a lot in removing the drive + putting it back. check the adults only sticky at the top of the i/o forum. one of the items is making a drive stand. there is also much good info in that adults only sticky. have fun reading.

i can't help ya with your trim issue as i've never had to engineer a way to stabilize it w/o trim rams.. if ya go so far as to going after the gimble ring. let us (me) know how it goes. like i said. my suspision is that the whole boats gonna come apart to get that gimble ring off due to no access to the top of the gimble ring for the boat being in the way..

congrats on your new to you boat. hope all works out well for you...

use your s/m a lot and what ya don't understand post up here on iboats. lots of great minds wanting to help here.

 

[marvinjansen]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

Talked to a marine repair shop today that said you could weld the trim cylinder at the end where it was broken and the gear housing where the bolt goes thru and it is cracked. Couldn't weld the cylinder broken in the middle.
Anyone have luck welding that pot metal?

 

[marvinjansen]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

another question. The groumets on the ends of the trim cylinders, they look to be beveled, how much trouble are they to change or install?

 

[ziggy]

Re: Mercruiser trim broken

Anyone have luck welding that pot metal?

i don't know for a fact. but my suspicion is that the metal is cast alum.
a real good welder may be able to fix it. i don't know this for a fact though..

The groumets on the ends of the trim cylinders, they look to be beveled, how much trouble are they to change or install?

not to much trouble. assuming the pin comes out easy. which, if it's not been removed for a while may not come out easy. once ya get it out, lub her up and reinstall. removing yearly and regreaseing helps the pin come out easy the next time ya wanna remove it.
watch for the little springs under the rubber pieces. they need to be there. i believe they are for continuity between the drive and the pin. an anti corrosion feature..