Boat hit rocks..

LegacyT

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I'm asking for a friend. The other day they hit a rock and had to get towed back to town. The motor starts and runs but won't shift into gear. It's a late 80's Mcm 140 with alpha one drive. The lower unit skeg n prop is a lil mangled but the housing didnt split. Any ideas why it wont go into gear? I'm not really familiar with merc alphas.
 

Bondo

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Re: Boat hit rocks..

I'm asking for a friend. The other day they hit a rock and had to get towed back to town. The motor starts and runs but won't shift into gear. It's a late 80's Mcm 140 with alpha one drive. The lower unit skeg n prop is a lil mangled but the housing didnt split. Any ideas why it wont go into gear? I'm not really familiar with merc alphas.

Ayuh,... Tell 'em to pull the drive, 'n Look...
 

TilliamWe

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Re: Boat hit rocks..

crazy thought, replace the prop and see if it "shifts" then.
 

emoney

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Re: Boat hit rocks..

Sounds like all the advice they need has been given. They must have hit that rock pretty hard, that much is certain. At the risk of being redundant, all they can do is pull the prop off, drop the lower unit and see what's going on. Could be anything at this point.
 

LegacyT

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Re: Boat hit rocks..

Ok I'll let him know. Was hoping there is/are a common issue with those drives after creaming something...
 

81 Checkmate

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Jul 20, 2010
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Re: Boat hit rocks..

Well the common issue is that any outdrive is not made to hit rock's

A spun hub on the prop is one deturent to the drive when hiting objects in the water....

Hope for the best!
 

Grub54891

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Re: Boat hit rocks..

Dear Abby, my friend .............LOL..... No really,you already have good advice!
 

Bondo

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Re: Boat hit rocks..

Ok I'll let him know. Was hoping there is/are a common issue with those drives after creaming something...

Ayuh,... There's several things that Break,...

Basically, every given piece, 'tween the crankshaft, 'n the prop are Suspects....

Pullin' the drive is step 1 of the process of findin' out What broke...
 

ktbarrentine

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Dec 12, 2011
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Re: Boat hit rocks..

I'm asking for a friend. The other day they hit a rock and had to get towed back to town. The motor starts and runs but won't shift into gear. It's a late 80's Mcm 140 with alpha one drive. The lower unit skeg n prop is a lil mangled but the housing didnt split. Any ideas why it wont go into gear? I'm not really familiar with merc alphas.

Oh, I suspect it is going into gear, he's just not getting power from his engine to the prop, for any number of possible reasons (most likely of which is already discussed.... spun hub, which is the best you can hope for). If you really want to get into the nitty gritty, you need to trace the possible faults from engine to prop, including:
1. Blown engine coupler
2. Stripped coupler splines
3. Broken u-joint
4. Broken upper vertical shaft
5. Stripped upper gears
6. Broken lower vertical shaft (in these late 80's model Alphas, they break at the upper O-ring groove, and sometimes above that)
7. problem with lower gears
8. Spun hub.

Others can/will chime in, but this gives food for thought, and each item has its own way of checking for the fault.

HTH:D
 

ktbarrentine

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1,296
Re: Boat hit rocks..

Ayuh,... There's several things that Break,...

Basically, every given piece, 'tween the crankshaft, 'n the prop are Suspects....

Pullin' the drive is step 1 of the process of findin' out What broke...

before that, he could do the "spun-hub prop check", and/or could pop the top cap off the upper for a quick look-see.... other than those easy-peasy things, pop the drive and look inside...
 
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