What has happened?

[alaska_av8r]

I have a 75 SeaRay with Ford 302 and Mercruiser drive. Going down the lake at cruise throttle the engine revved similar to shearing a shear pin.

The prop hub assemby is fine with not damage indicated. When I restarted the boat the shift cables worked fine (at least to the transom where I could see them) but the boat and prop would not move in forward or reverse.

Out of the water in neutral the prop rotates fine, when shift lever is placed in forward the prop will not rotate one direction and makes a clunking sound rotating the opposite direction......same thing for reverse

I am pretty well mechanically inclined....but this is first boat and has me stymied. It appears that there is some sort of hydraulic lines going to the shift levers behind the engine.....what is this and how does this fit into the equation.....don't appear to be related to the trim/tilt system.

New to boating...so I am not sure exactly how this drive works.

 

[Don S]

Re: What has happened?

May be as simple as a spun prop hub, or as bad as a spun engine coupler. Look behind the engine for metal shavings around the splines where the outdrive shaft enters the coupler, or melted/ burned rubber where the coupler spun. Did you have an overheat at the same time?

 

[alaska_av8r]

Re: What has happened?

Thanks Don, I have found the guilty culprit. The drive shaft gears (first 90 after universal joint) both gears are toothless........lol.....ouch.

I pulled the outdrive off today and that is what I discovered, it appears the clutch and 90 at the foot are working properly so it appears I will attempt to repair this thing myself....

Let the fun begin.....

 

[Don S]

Re: What has happened?

You can't repair it yourself unless you have all the special tools to set gear heights, and preloads. You are also going to need all bearings and gears. You have metal shavings from the bad gears in every bearing and gear in the drive. Many times the upper pinion gear swells up and will not even come out of the housing.

 

[WAVENBYE2]

Re: What has happened?

I hope you don't ever run your engine and strern drive with out using your muffs

 

[alaska_av8r]

Re: What has happened?

Thanks Don.....it does have metal shavings everywhere. I had planned on ordering the gears and bearings giving it a shot at a rebuild myself. I am relatively mechanically inclined when it comes to autos etc, from engines to drivetrain.....new to boats...

Do you think I am biting off more than I can chew. I don't want to have to buy tools I'll hopefully only use once.....but the pocket book is already going ouch.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: What has happened?

It will be cheaper for you to buy an aftermarket SEI drive & you have a guarantee of three years.....IMHO.....​

 

[alaska_av8r]

Re: What has happened?

Well at this point I have a quote of appx $600 dollars to repair the upper? Sound about right?

 

[Don S]

Re: What has happened?

Well at this point I have a quote of appx $600 dollars to repair the upper? Sound about right?

Let's put it this way. The OEM gears and bearings list out at $575. That isn't even counting a seal kit, gear lube and labor.

 

[frayed knot]

Re: What has happened?

As already stated, look into a new SEI drive. You can get the whole thing for $1200 and it comes with a 3 year no fault warranty. http://www.sterndrive.cc/ Trust what Don has told you, you cannot properly setup the drive tolerances without the proper tools, if you get them wrong, you'll end up with stripped gears again.

 

[alaska_av8r]

Re: What has happened?

thanks guys......I opted for a used outdrive to just replace this one. Found one on a boat that folks weren't using anymore, had it checked out by local marine mechanic and he rebuilt the water pump and gave the rest the thumbs up......

now on to some minor tweaking etc....

any good recommendations on a tune up manual for this beast...

 

[ziggy]

Re: What has happened?

any good recommendations on a tune up manual for this beast...

mercruiser service manual #2...c-90-71707

 

[alaska_av8r]

Re: What has happened?

thanks I'll look on ebay.......by any chance is this one online anywhere?

 

[alaska_av8r]

Re: What has happened?

okay I have found Mercruiser manuals volume 1 and 2 with the 90-71707 part numbers.....is this what I need?