trippledigitss
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2015
- Messages
- 33
Hey guys, first time poster. Apologies in advance for the long post!
I?ve been lurking around here for awhile, reading some of the threads, they have been very helpful! So I decided to create an account and post some info on my recent repair. I dont think any of this is really ?new? info that cant already be found here, but just a different perspective with some info on the rebuild kit I found & and method I used.
First a little background on me & my vessel, I currently have a 2004 Seaswirl Striper 1851WA with 3.0L Volvo Penta i/o and an SX-M outdrive. This is the 3rd power boat I've owned, all in the 18-20' range but the first boat I've owned with an inboard engine. Of course I have smaller boats too with little kickers, etc.
As far as my mechanical experience - I am NOT a mechanic by any stretch! I can turn a wrench but I am not a motor head and I DO NOT enjoy working on engines, cars, boats, etc. I always joke that my car only has two moving parts, the ignition and the gas cap! I am capable but not experienced so to speak and just have a small run-of-the-mill 130 piece tool set from Costco.
That being said this replacement job was really a snap! At first I was intimidated but it was easier than I expected. So if you are thinking about doing this yourself, dont be worried - you got this!
So I had what appears to be a fairly common issue with these outdrives, my trim cylinder was leaking around the wiper seal at the ram shaft. I referred heavily to these two other threads:
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...86-volvo-penta-sx-m-trim-cylinder-replacement
and
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...-drive-trim-cylinder-removal-leak-replacement
My rear pin was very smooth and slid out with ease just by hand. My forward pin, not so much. It looked clean & shiny but it had what seemed like just the smallest amount of salt corrosion inside the pin 'socket' end of the cylinder and also in the outdrive housing area. Just that little bit made it so it would not budge! The cylinder would not slide off the pin and the pin would not rotate or slide in/out of its housing area in the outdrive ? it was locked solid! Once I finally did get it off I was AMAZED at how LITTLE corrosion had locked it in place!
Before I go into to how I got the pin off, I?ll tell you about the rebuild kit I found. I bought this kit from a seller on FeeBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/291516471781 for about $140 shipped and it was for 2 cylinders. To me the parts appear to be very high quality, better than the OMC kit, and it came with an excellent set of instructions. The o-rings all fit perfectly and the wiper seal is such a tight seal that it completely wipes any & all grease off of the ram shaft with little to no residue left. I was impressed with that.
I also bought a little Armstrong spanner wrench for $20 on FeeBay and it worked perfectly! http://www.ebay.com/itm/321821647658?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Once I got the cylinder off, rebuilding it was a snap. Getting it off was the hard part! I did NOT want to sawzall the pin off like other posters said. So first I tried penetrating oil. Then I tried hammering it using a wood block to protect it, then I tried heating it with a propane torch ? NOTHING. It wouldn?t budge! So then I bought a MAP cylinder for my torch and heated with that. MAP burns much hotter and that helped to break the cylinder free but it still wouldn?t slide off the pin!
So then I made a wood wedge and drove it between the cylinder and the main frame of the outdrive, it moved a little but not very much. As I drove in the wedge it caused the cylinder to rotate down until it hit the little flange wing type deal right below where the cylinders mount. Then I found out when I rotated the cylinder back upwards, it moved farther up the wedge which in turn forced the cylinder off! (oh let me add that by this point I had removed the shaft & internals of the cylinder to protect them from the heat and not bend the shaft by using it to pull. I wrapped a nylon strap from a tie down around the cylinder tube and used that to pull on)
And that was the trick, I kept that sort motion up, heat up the pin & socket, drive in the wedge which rotated the cylinder down, pull the cylinder back up on the the wedge which forced it off the pin. Then when the cylinder was almost off and the wedge was no longer big enough, I used a wood block and hit the forward end of the cylinder from the backside, or opposite side of the outdrive, and that forced it the rest of the way off.
When I got the cylinder off and took it apart, I noticed the screw that holds the ground clip on the forward end goes completely thru to the pin. So then I went to the starboard side and took that screw out and squirted in penetrating oil a few different times and also around the end of the pin on the port side. Then I let it sit overnight until the next evening, and once the weather and the pin cooled down, the pin broke free fairly easy and I was able to drive it out of the outdrive.
As far as the corrosion in the socket end of the cylinder, I soaked it overnight in a 50/50 mix of white vinegar & water than I used my dremel with a little wire wheel to clean it all out. Then I greased the heck out of the pin, socket, outdrive, etc and put anti seize on the threads of the ground clip screw only! Oh and one other thing, don?t make the mistake I did and use a standard 11mm wrench on the hydraulic fittings! Spend the $5 bucks and go get a nice flare nut wrench which fits the nut properly and wont strip it!
Anyway, I know this is A LONNNG POST and I apologize for that. I just thought it might be helpful for another guy with a similar skill level and similar situation. Again, to you guys like that ? don?t worry, it was easy technically, just a pain due to the corrosion. If everything comes off the way it is supposed to, it is a 60? job or less. I plan to keep it lubed and clean it at least once a season! So far this rebuild kit is working perfectly ? it was well worth it vs buying a new cylinder and it looks like the custom made o-rings & seals are better quality than the comparable OMC kit ? and they are supposedly double acting which helps keep a seal if you have minor blemishes in the ram shaft.
Good luck & safe boating to you all! The pink salmon are running thick right now so its time for me to get back on the water!
I?ve been lurking around here for awhile, reading some of the threads, they have been very helpful! So I decided to create an account and post some info on my recent repair. I dont think any of this is really ?new? info that cant already be found here, but just a different perspective with some info on the rebuild kit I found & and method I used.
First a little background on me & my vessel, I currently have a 2004 Seaswirl Striper 1851WA with 3.0L Volvo Penta i/o and an SX-M outdrive. This is the 3rd power boat I've owned, all in the 18-20' range but the first boat I've owned with an inboard engine. Of course I have smaller boats too with little kickers, etc.
As far as my mechanical experience - I am NOT a mechanic by any stretch! I can turn a wrench but I am not a motor head and I DO NOT enjoy working on engines, cars, boats, etc. I always joke that my car only has two moving parts, the ignition and the gas cap! I am capable but not experienced so to speak and just have a small run-of-the-mill 130 piece tool set from Costco.
That being said this replacement job was really a snap! At first I was intimidated but it was easier than I expected. So if you are thinking about doing this yourself, dont be worried - you got this!
So I had what appears to be a fairly common issue with these outdrives, my trim cylinder was leaking around the wiper seal at the ram shaft. I referred heavily to these two other threads:
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...86-volvo-penta-sx-m-trim-cylinder-replacement
and
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...-drive-trim-cylinder-removal-leak-replacement
My rear pin was very smooth and slid out with ease just by hand. My forward pin, not so much. It looked clean & shiny but it had what seemed like just the smallest amount of salt corrosion inside the pin 'socket' end of the cylinder and also in the outdrive housing area. Just that little bit made it so it would not budge! The cylinder would not slide off the pin and the pin would not rotate or slide in/out of its housing area in the outdrive ? it was locked solid! Once I finally did get it off I was AMAZED at how LITTLE corrosion had locked it in place!
Before I go into to how I got the pin off, I?ll tell you about the rebuild kit I found. I bought this kit from a seller on FeeBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/291516471781 for about $140 shipped and it was for 2 cylinders. To me the parts appear to be very high quality, better than the OMC kit, and it came with an excellent set of instructions. The o-rings all fit perfectly and the wiper seal is such a tight seal that it completely wipes any & all grease off of the ram shaft with little to no residue left. I was impressed with that.
I also bought a little Armstrong spanner wrench for $20 on FeeBay and it worked perfectly! http://www.ebay.com/itm/321821647658?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Once I got the cylinder off, rebuilding it was a snap. Getting it off was the hard part! I did NOT want to sawzall the pin off like other posters said. So first I tried penetrating oil. Then I tried hammering it using a wood block to protect it, then I tried heating it with a propane torch ? NOTHING. It wouldn?t budge! So then I bought a MAP cylinder for my torch and heated with that. MAP burns much hotter and that helped to break the cylinder free but it still wouldn?t slide off the pin!
So then I made a wood wedge and drove it between the cylinder and the main frame of the outdrive, it moved a little but not very much. As I drove in the wedge it caused the cylinder to rotate down until it hit the little flange wing type deal right below where the cylinders mount. Then I found out when I rotated the cylinder back upwards, it moved farther up the wedge which in turn forced the cylinder off! (oh let me add that by this point I had removed the shaft & internals of the cylinder to protect them from the heat and not bend the shaft by using it to pull. I wrapped a nylon strap from a tie down around the cylinder tube and used that to pull on)
And that was the trick, I kept that sort motion up, heat up the pin & socket, drive in the wedge which rotated the cylinder down, pull the cylinder back up on the the wedge which forced it off the pin. Then when the cylinder was almost off and the wedge was no longer big enough, I used a wood block and hit the forward end of the cylinder from the backside, or opposite side of the outdrive, and that forced it the rest of the way off.
When I got the cylinder off and took it apart, I noticed the screw that holds the ground clip on the forward end goes completely thru to the pin. So then I went to the starboard side and took that screw out and squirted in penetrating oil a few different times and also around the end of the pin on the port side. Then I let it sit overnight until the next evening, and once the weather and the pin cooled down, the pin broke free fairly easy and I was able to drive it out of the outdrive.
As far as the corrosion in the socket end of the cylinder, I soaked it overnight in a 50/50 mix of white vinegar & water than I used my dremel with a little wire wheel to clean it all out. Then I greased the heck out of the pin, socket, outdrive, etc and put anti seize on the threads of the ground clip screw only! Oh and one other thing, don?t make the mistake I did and use a standard 11mm wrench on the hydraulic fittings! Spend the $5 bucks and go get a nice flare nut wrench which fits the nut properly and wont strip it!
Anyway, I know this is A LONNNG POST and I apologize for that. I just thought it might be helpful for another guy with a similar skill level and similar situation. Again, to you guys like that ? don?t worry, it was easy technically, just a pain due to the corrosion. If everything comes off the way it is supposed to, it is a 60? job or less. I plan to keep it lubed and clean it at least once a season! So far this rebuild kit is working perfectly ? it was well worth it vs buying a new cylinder and it looks like the custom made o-rings & seals are better quality than the comparable OMC kit ? and they are supposedly double acting which helps keep a seal if you have minor blemishes in the ram shaft.
Good luck & safe boating to you all! The pink salmon are running thick right now so its time for me to get back on the water!