Well Didn't figure on working on drive till winter. As the last owner and the marina who sold it to him guaranteed it was 100% water ready. But being a person who starts every I/O ownership with a inspection of bellows ,gimbal and impeller I just couldn't bring myself to be that rusting. So while outside cleaning it i decided to raise the outdrive to see the exhaust bellow. Well each crease was full of cracks. So here we went. Finally getting it back together now. When I removed the pins from bell housing I ripped the drive bellow off by hand. All ruber was that way. So replaced it all. The gimble bearing looked ,felt and sounded new. And was really well greased. Shift cable was frayed and rusted badly on the back where fastened to the bell housing. So had to replace the whole cable and each of the end pieces.
Then i split the lower unit to check impeller. It was actually melted so the ends were short a 1/4 inch. Some of the melted rubber stayed in housing and drying to a hard like plastic piece. Lower housing looked fine. So replaced it all too!. All seals , gaskets and o- rings also that i come across in process.
Well need to reassemble the lower and then pressure check it. But now I do know where im at and when to service. And now have peace of mind. Something i always suggest to new i/o owners. I dont know why this boat stayed afloat last year, or why it still even runs being that hot. But i do think i know why the bildge pump was burnt up now! LOL!
Then i split the lower unit to check impeller. It was actually melted so the ends were short a 1/4 inch. Some of the melted rubber stayed in housing and drying to a hard like plastic piece. Lower housing looked fine. So replaced it all too!. All seals , gaskets and o- rings also that i come across in process.
Well need to reassemble the lower and then pressure check it. But now I do know where im at and when to service. And now have peace of mind. Something i always suggest to new i/o owners. I dont know why this boat stayed afloat last year, or why it still even runs being that hot. But i do think i know why the bildge pump was burnt up now! LOL!