Is Alpha one a good drive?

[alden135]

I'm looking at a boat. There's a 1989 IMP 220 (21') sportsman for sale. It has a 165 or 170hp mercruiser alpha one in it. I'm looking for opinions on whether this is a decent drive system and whether it's user friendly with repairs or not.

Thanks,

Alden

 

[QC]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

All I/Os are Pieces OS. With that said, they are all I have owned. The biggest negative for me with the Alpha is the dog clutch that goes, clickety, clickety if you don't learn how to shift them properly. Just sounds cheap to me. Once you figure it out, you don't hear that very often unless you let somebody else drive . . .

Like all of this other stuff, if you take care of them, they are fine.

 

[alden135]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

All I/Os are Pieces OS. With that said, they are all I have owned. The biggest negative for me with the Alpha is the dog clutch that goes, clickety, clickety if you don't learn how to shift them properly. Just sounds cheap to me. Once you figure it out, you don't hear that very often unless you let somebody else drive . . .

Like all of this other stuff, if you take care of them, they are fine.

This one has a remanufactured gearcase on it. The "inspected by" sticker looks new still.

 

[tommays]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

What motor it has would worry me more


Tommays

 

[QC]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

The biggest deal on servicing them is removing the drive to align once a year. You need the alignment tool of course and I read posts from a lot of people having trouble going back together with them. I've never done it as my nephew is a tech and he does it for me for nothing.

Changing gear lube is easy, just like your outboard I think. Changing engine oil can be a royal pain in the arse. I have their newer drain system that allows me to drain through a hose; it is a MAJOR improvement, you should check into a retrofit. It replaces the oil pan drain plug (as if you could reach that), coils around in the bilge and you pull it through the bilge drain when you want to drain the oil.

Fuel filters are another pain to get to. Major contortion, lots of spills :0 and I have to remove stuff to get to them. Spark plugs are cake. Believe it or not (there is a recent thread on this) Merc now loctites the flippin' rotor to the distributor shaft. The procedure is to hit it with a honkin' blow torch to get it off. You have to damn near melt the rotor to get it hot enough. Most here agree that you don't need to loctite the new one, but if it was done by the book, you need the torch to get it off . . . :|

If I can get my family to agree, next boat will be an Outboard. You should have to live with one of these for a while though, so rock on . . .

 

[alden135]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

What motor it has would worry me more


Tommays

All I know is it's 170 HP. Maybe a V6?

 

[alden135]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

QC,

I'm finding myself in quite the quandry now.

I have the sickness.That coupled with the fact my house is on an island, means I MUST have a boat. If I don't I'll die.

My POS 120 johnson has been broke since June and just spins around on the mooring, laughing at me.

I need something that I can actually use, and get service for if / when I need it.

 

[QC]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

1989 170 is a 4.3 2bbl

 

[QC]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

I MUST have a boat. If I don't I'll die

LMAO

BTW, you can't get an I/O completely out of the water if you leave it in a slip . . .

 

[alden135]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

1989 170 is a 4.3 2bbl

Well I don't know if it's apples to apples, but I had a 1990 chev pick up with the 4.3 that I bought new. I used that truck hard and had zero engine trouble. I traded it in with 140,000 miles on it.

 

[alden135]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?



BTW, you can't get an I/O completely out of the water if you leave it in a slip . . .


Ya, I know. I had a bluefin with an I/O.

That was also junk. ford motor-omc outdrive.

 

[fendersfender]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

anythings better than OMC...oars would even be better...I myself like alpha drives...parts are readily available as are mechanics.

 

[stevieray]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

I've had an Alpha one connected to a Merc 305 V8 for 18 years - same one, never rebiult or replaced. Just like any other piece of machinery, keep it clean & take care of it & it'll take care of you. Maintenance is pretty easy - the first time you take anything apart it is a bit daunting, but once you've done it, it's not that bad. I've paid someone to replace all the bellows & the lower shift cable twice in it's life, but other than that, it's been very reliable. If you keep it in the drink, protect & constantly watch for galvanic corrosion - that can be a killer.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

As long as that Motor is in fact a Chevy,..... You'll like the boat.........

Alphas are a pretty solid little outdrive for the Under 300hp crowd,......
They're no doubt the Most Produced outdrive in History......
Parts,+ Help is available Everywhere,.......Even the price of a New replacement drive is Cheap with the Aftermarket drives.....
In my years of running Alphas,.....
The Only Failures I've ever experinced were preceeded by a Realestate Transaction.................d

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

d What he said......JK

 

[QC]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

The Only Failures I've ever experinced were preceeded by a Realestate Transaction

At the Cat dealer we called them GET Ground Engaging Tools . . . Expensive there too

 

[Bondo]

Re: Is Alpha one a good drive?

On a Caterpillar I'd Expect to have a GET on 1 end or the Other,.....
Maybe Both..........

But,.....
On My Boat,........ I'd rather Not..................

It's Bad Enough when my Fishing Gear becomes a GET,.........
That runs into the Tens or Hundreds of Dollar$...........
The Outdrive tends to run Much Higher...........................d