VP dp290 upper gear case

[Scott Danforth]

Boating this weekend, following a friends '88 Carver Montego with a VP 290 and only 225 hours. about 15 miles of cruising at about 20mph (per the GPS) and his drive blows up. the upper gear case splits with a horrendous sound.

his boat comes off of plane with a nice oily sheen in the water.

I towed him back to the marina, we load his boat on the trailer and head back to a friends house to tools and a few bottles of sorrow.

the drive is now noticeably leaking from under the shift cover. we pull the shift cover and find a huge crack in the upper gear case. Is this a common problem?

As stated, the boat has 225 hours on it. The drive just received new bellows, hoses, and oil about 15 hours prior. There is no water in the gear case, and the drive is still full of oil (minus the small amount that left during the drive ending event).

my concern is not so much that his drive went kaboom, however that I have the exact same drive and powerplant in my Rogue with 740 hours on it (20 hours since new bearings, seals, u-joints, etc.)

 

[Maclin]

Re: VP dp290 upper gear case

Generic troubleshooting would tend to point back to whatever was done or not done at the last service since it was very recent.

Proper weight oil.
Correct amount of oil used and correct fill method used, correct method of reading dipstick,etc.
Correct r&r procedure for the upper gear unit, all bolts correct length and back into the matching holes, etc.

What do the ujoints look like?
Are the bearings in the primary driveshaft housing ok?
Is the primary housing intact?

 

[Maclin]

Re: VP dp290 upper gear case

A side note, the 290's are tough sob's.

 

[Don S]

Re: VP dp290 upper gear case

the drive is now noticeably leaking from under the shift cover. we pull the shift cover and find a huge crack in the upper gear case. Is this a common problem?

Nope, worked on many 290's never seen an upper gear case cracked.

But, an improper rebuild could very easily cause it.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: VP dp290 upper gear case

Nope, worked on many 290's never seen an upper gear case cracked.

But, an improper rebuild could very easily cause it.

other than replacing the oil and bellows due to age at the start of the season, the drive has never been touched. the boat, engine, drive, etc. all had only 208 hours on it when purchased last year. (A true barn-find, owned by a widow that let it sit for 9 years).

Al the bearings seemed perfect at the time the bellows was replaced - no play in them using a small pry bar and dial indicator. the u-joints still look brand new.

the upper is definitely cracked. according to the service tech, he suggested there is an oil screen on the inside that may be gooped up with sludge from sitting. this may have caused a bearing to go bad or gears to start to degrade from lack of upper end oiling. Although this is still a theory as there are gear teeth everywhere except where they should be.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: VP dp290 upper gear case

EDIT: Sorry, Not allowed on the forums. You should read the forum rules.