Winterized...found 1 sterndrive full of water, instead of oil.

[harringtondav]

achris Could he install a Gen II 1.84?

 

[Rick Stephens]

achris Could he install a Gen II 1.84?

That would cost more than replacing both sterndrives with new after market 1.81. To switch to Gen2 would require changing out gimbal housing back.

 

[achris]

achris Could he install a Gen II 1.84?

Not onto an Alpha One transom assembly, no. As Rick said, requires the entire gimbal housing and inner transom plate to be changed...

 

[harringtondav]

...thought I read something about this before. Now I'll remember.

 

[Oshawapilot]

Thanks everyone, you are all a wealth of knowledge.

I think at this point it makes sense to pull the drive and at least have it professionally assessed to see if it's rebuildable vs a basket case. Considering the apparently less than common ratio it may be hit and miss to find something used.

As for finding and going with a 1.81, 36RPM@4000...Hmmm, what kind of difference are we talking? It has 15x17 props on it. The boat spends 98% of it's life at slow cruise for day trip getaways to the local sandbar, etc... only getting up on plane when we have a long stretch of lake to cover and we want to do it quickly on some longer trips.

 

[Oshawapilot]

Found a really sweet 1.84 Alpha 1, would be a direct bolt up replacement - looks to be in extremely lightly used condition.

Seller wants $1K however. For the condition it doesn't seem that bad, but I don't have much to compare against. Decent price?

I keep coming back to the reality that I suspect it would be easy to spend that sort of money on the old drive repairing one that's in rough shape to begin with.

 

[achris]

Depending on the condition of your old drive, it could be a few hundred for a reseal, or several thousand if the water has been in long enough to rust bearing surfaces... Until that drive is opened up, it's a complete guess. And even opening up that drive could cost quite a bit... Getting the bearing carrier out isn't going to be 'straight forward' given the condition....

A complete new SEI drive can be had for about $1350. A complete lower (for the other side) is about $700...

Chris.......

 

[Oshawapilot]

Finding a matching drive in the right ratio is turning out to be more of a challenge than I figured. The guy with the perfect looking one a few hours away isn't answering repeated inquiries to his ad, so ironically...the potentially best one is turning out to be out of reach.

Lots of others..but all the wrong ratios...or people have no idea what they are and can't be bothered to even look and reply to inquiries.

Here's a question for everyone - assuming we do actually eventually find a used prospect, what's the best way to assess it's condition as best as possible?

 

[achris]

Take an oil sample... If it's dead clean, be wary... If it's old but has no water is probably good... Look for signs the drive has been opened up... Also, when you do get one, replace the impeller and check the water pocket cover gasket...

Chris....