Re: Upper pinion bearing race removal
I realize this thread is really old, but I had this issue as well, and Rodbolt is correct with what he says, however...my favorite saying is 'Can't never could' and I couldn't find anyone who would eve work on my 86 omc cobra....which left me to do it on my own.
I went to Harbor Freight, got a hydraulic press for $130...bearings for the pinion gear $80...found out I needed the bearing carrier, another $80...not to bad so far.
The pinion gear came out ok, the bearing closest to the pinion gear came apart, causing the race in the carrier to spin and chew up the carrier....everything else looked good, the issue is I could not get the race off the pinion shaft, after bending 2 bearing pullers, 1 homemade puller, I finally decided to take a dremel with cutoff wheels, go slow and cut out a section of the race....took 3 days, but it came off, with no damage to the shaft, the new bearing pressed on easy, I never messed with the drive shaft gear, and according to other posts, I should be able to reuse the shims, I just ended up buying the shim tool for $77 off ebay for the bearing carrier, and checking the backlash.
This is a huge job....not for the faint of heart, and you most definitly need the manual....but at the same time, a new upper unit was $1200...I figured the parts were a minimal expense, and as the boat was bought used, I have no idea what type of mechanic worked on it...worst case, I figured about $2000 to get this done....if the new upper is $1200, I have $800 to play with and see if I can get it done.
Yes, this is something you can do...with a lot of stick to it...and at the end, I have the satisfaction of knowing everytime I take the boat out it runs because of my work.
Rodbolt brings up some really great points, and we need to pay really close attention to what we are doing, and follow the manual...but it is something we can definitly do...I know, I did it!!!