want opinions? merc 165, I drivfe, (a bit long)

[ziggy]

hi folks, <br />i guess i'm lookin for opions here. i got the below listed boat. i've posted about removin the drive, thinkin i wanted to go after the bellows and check the ujoint for wear. well. i'm second guessin myself. guess the question is i really want to know is where to go from where i'm at. she is winterized now, no antifreeze, done all the proper stuff i think. now, where to go from here. 1st off i'm a poor man boater. got no excessive funds, got no garage so to speak, though the fx140 is in the small garage i got, but certinlhy not enough room for the trisonic. so it sits in the back yard. got it protected with a boat cover best i can. this is dad's boat, dad died a couple of august's ago, and i want to get his boat real richious. he wasn't to mecanical, had the local boat mech. do the work for him. in bum f*** mn. don't think the mech. was into his job much. got me a floor replacement along with transom. this seems solid. ain't got no water leaks. got a rebuilt motor, maybe, would like to check the serial number though. sure is rusty on the outside of the block though, runs good though. didn't even do a elec. tune up to it this last summer. just emeryed the points, wiped down the dist. and such. r&r'ed the plugs. put me a valve cover gasket ontoit, a couple of other things. bilge is pretty clean. maybe put 25-40 hours ontoit this summer, no problems. this boat has no hour meter, so bet it has a lot. anyways, where do i go from here. i been puttin on the missouri river a bit. sure don't want to break down at all there. bellows look fair. a bit chalky on the outside though. best i can tell aint been serviced for about 4 years. not much has been serviced in 4, maybe 3 years, best i can tell by dad's records. other than that, dad tried to keep up ontoit it seems. the trailor is lookin pretty bad. got lots of rust on the bottom of the frame rails, don't know if i can grind it off and redo or not. might have to consider new trailor. but got to have a boat worthy of a new trailor too. i guess my main concern is the bellows, the u'joint and not sure yet, but the front two spark plugs were different lookin than the other 4, back 4. guess i'd say the front 2 were lookin lean, the bak 4 lookin rich to normal???? what's up with that?? <br />also want to thant willybwright for comments of I drive removeal and replacement. thanks man. also regurading that. i guess my question is really. 1. how heavy is the drive only?, can me and the 15 year old boy remove it without a houit of some sorts, if i can, how am i gonna store it. in the basement on a vise with blocks of wood to support it while i do work on the u-joint? don't look like a engine stand will work. better question yet i think is, can me and the boy put it back on? or do i really need a hoist to get it real level and straight and steady? and i will get a drive shaft alignment tool to make sure of that. sorry guys, i got lots of questions. i really like the design of this trisonic. it handles real sweet. any idea where i ought to go from ya all?,,,,,,,,,, jim

 

[Don S]

Re: want opinions? merc 165, I drivfe, (a bit long)

To tell you the truth Jim, you have a lot of work ahead of you......We had some fun with your previous (empty) post, but don't worry, it was all in fun.<br />Your engine was not winterized, it sounds like it was freezeproofed.<br />Winterizing includes all the filters, (Fuel and Oil) Dirve pull on Mercruisers, gear lube change engine fogging and some other things.<br />Hopefully you have drained all the raw water cooling side of your engine and the antifreeze side is also at a low enough temperature to survive the winter.<br />I'll give you some of my thoughts later, The wife just said the Halibut is done.....time to eat

 

[ziggy]

Re: want opinions? merc 165, I drivfe, (a bit long)

yeah dons, that was quite the miss post ay, never seen one like that, man, i realy hit the wrong enter button there.lol. anyways, ok, i did all that stuff. raw water sys. three drain plugs, block t'fittin, riser plug, exhust manifold, all drained, R&R hypoid oil in lower unit, fogged thru carb, didn't die. fogged thru indiviual sparkplug holes, rollover 720 degrees aprox. did fuel filter maybe 10 hours prior to winterizein, did oil and filter 2 hours prior to winterizin, gonna do a elec. tuneup prior to puttin back in the water, point, conds. cap, problably plug wires, anyways, think its more winterized than ya are saying, let me know if it aint. still got the questions i had. and yeah, i didn't pull the drive, why and what am i gonna repair, u-joint and bellows, like i think i'm concerend about???? ,,,, jim

 

[Don S]

Re: want opinions? merc 165, I drivfe, (a bit long)

The reason you pull the drive, is to check for water in the bellows, inspect the gimbal bearing, lube the gimbal bearing (and wipe up the old grease from the gimbal bearing) and to check the alignment. Checking the alignment allows you to see if the rear (or front) motor mounts go bad and cause a missalignment which will destory a 3 to $400 in short order. Water in the bellows will allow water to get into the ujoints and gimbal bearing which will ruin them both, plus water will get into the drive because the seal on the input shaft of the drive was not designed to prevent water from getting in. That's the job of the bellows.<br />Sounds like the engine has been done ok, spray some corrosion blocker over everything and it will be fine for the winter.<br />In the spring do a complete tuneup, include a compression test after you run it for a bit and burn the fogging oil out of it. Set the timing, check the advance and readjust the carb. Then after a few runs, check the plugs and see how they are burning.<br />There isn't much you can do to check the engine after winterization to check the plugs. One question would be what kind of spark plugs was in it?

 

[Bondo]

Re: want opinions? merc 165, I drivfe, (a bit long)

And, The Mod.1, and the Alpha 1 Both weigh 80lbs....................

 

[ziggy]

Re: want opinions? merc 165, I drivfe, (a bit long)

thanks for the info folks, don, yep, i did put some silicon spray lub over the entire block. can't remember what brand plugs i used, but they were what was specified in my clymer book. yep, marine plugs. hum, 80lbs on that drive ay. i sure do want to take that off and have me a looks see. guess my concern here is the weather. it's gonna be gettin real cold here real soon. not real condusive to working on the bellows and gimbal brg. guess i will procrastinate a bit longer...but i know i won't be happy till the drive is off and inspected.... jim

 

[Don S]

Re: want opinions? merc 165, I drivfe, (a bit long)

It's not too bad to remove the drive. Once you disconnect the trim rams from the drive, just put some blocks under the skeg. Then when you pull the drive off it will be sitting on the blocks.<br />PS: Don't forget to put it in forward before you try to pull the drive off or you will bend the shifter.