Pulled out my 4.3 mercruiser today. Wow! What a job!

[jones56]

Pulled the 4.3 out of my sea ray today. Man it was a hard job, my back is aching lol... It had alot of blow by and sounded like a slight rod knock too. Gonna pull it apart tomorrow and see whats going on.. Is there anything maintenance wise I should do to the out drive etc while I got the engine out???

 

[mikel1291979]

Re: Pulled out my 4.3 mercruiser today. Wow! What a job!

Check the gimbal, bellows, ujoints. Replace what needs to be replaced. Grease the crap out of what doesn't. Excluding bellows of course. Lots of people say since your already there go ahead and replace it all. I don't agree. How long did it take to pull the drive off? Is it really a big deal if you decide you need to do it again later? Just my .02.

 

[jones56]

Re: Pulled out my 4.3 mercruiser today. Wow! What a job!

How do I check the gimbal, bellows and u joints? Im new to boating learning everyday! It took me about 2.5 hours to remove it.

 

[mikel1291979]

Re: Pulled out my 4.3 mercruiser today. Wow! What a job!

How do I check the gimbal, bellows and u joints? Im new to boating learning everyday! It took me about 2.5 hours to remove it.

I am very new to this as well, but I will tell you what I have learned from here, other boards and boater friends. The bellows are straight forward. Look for cracks or holes in them. The gimbal should spin freely without in and out play.