OMC outdrive --Major problem?

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: OMC outdrive --Major problem?

How long does it take to replace the ball gears as shown in Superbenk's photo, assuming the outdrive was on a bench, seperate from the boat?

2.5 hrs

 

[wire2]

Re: OMC outdrive --Major problem?

Good call. Alternatively, you can mount the boot upside down so the folds get kinked & tear a hole within the first year of use so that you just replace the boot every year

Speaking of that, if you buy the Sierra boot, the model number embossed in the rubber should be upside-down when you install the boot & the double arrow should point down, not up. It makes no sense, but I learned the hard way.

Just after I bought the boat in '84, I heard some horror stories of a mink or muskrat chewing a hole in someone's boot at the waterline. I ordered and installed the poly shield from OMC, (I think was $125 way back then, a severe rip off for some plastic and a handfull of aluminum screws).

Anyways, the shield may have extended the life of the boot, it was still in very good condition after 20-odd years, I sold it after switching drives.

 

[wire2]

Re: OMC outdrive --Major problem?

Don't *EVER* run the motor with the drive tilted up *AT ALL* - that's how your ball gears got wrecked to begin with. That drive is meant to be all the way down when running, period. It's not like the outdrives with U-joints that allow you to tilt the drive while running. OMC Stringers trim by trimming the entire motor/outdrive assembly, not by trimming the outdrive itself.

.....

I was thinking about this today.

Very occasionally I would idle away from the dock area, get to deeper water, forget to tilt full down, and punch it. I would feel a thunk, then realize I had forgotten to put it down. The thrust of the prop would instantly overrun the clutch pack and seat the outdrive full down. So driving my boat with the tilt partly up was a "aint gonna happen".

I should qualify that scenario; with my modded 5.7, I had more power than average, (idle to on plane in 1 second) so it may not happen with all models.

In fact, I seem to recall the dealer showing me a set of destroyed ball gears he had removed from a boat, in which the owner had run it at speed, with the tilt partly up. He just didn't know.

SB, I do agree with you, ball gears are designed/meant to be in full mesh ALL the time.
Occasionally, conditions make it impractical.

I'm convinced that there's virtually no harm done if
(a) it's operated that way for a very short duration, and
(b) the engine is kept at idle only.

At idle, there's very little resistance by the outdrive gear to being spun by the intermediate shaft gear, and also very little friction.

My dock is in a shallow lagoon, it's ~ 500 ft to deeper water. Even with hundreds of trips in/out per season, my gears lasted 12-13 years, and even then they were still 50% there. I changed them b/c they just "didn't look good". Last set was only $125 or so, did it in ~ 1 hour. I put anti-seize on the shaft and threads, makes it easier next time.