Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

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TheSeasLife

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Aug 23, 2009
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We were out for about 1 hour. As boat was skimming smoothly all of a sudden it can out of gear. It will not engage into forward or reverse anymore. Is there an old post here someplace that I can read and figure out what wrong. Has to be something simple....
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

Ayuh,... Tell Us more 'bout what ya got...

It Could be the prop hub is slippin'....
It Could be the motor's Coupler,... did it overheat at all,..?? Smoke or burnt rubber smell,..??
It's more likely the top of the vertical shaft Snapped off, at the o-ring groove...

Any metal in the drive oil,..??
Any rubber dust behind the motor,..??
What kinda prop hub ya usin',..??
 
ziggy

ziggy

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

It Could be the prop hub is slippin'....
Click to expand...
that'd be the easy fix. easy to find out too. R&R with a known good prop or paint a line on the prop and the hub that's splined to the prop shaft. go run it and if the lines don't match up anymore, the hub has slipped. if that don't fix it... :(
It Could be the motor's Coupler,... did it overheat at all,..?? Smoke or burnt rubber smell,..??
It's more likely the top of the vertical shaft Snapped off, at the o-ring groove...

Any metal in the drive oil,..??
Any rubber dust behind the motor,..??
Click to expand...
then that'd be a bummer, dollars wise anyways.. that'd be either fix the driven gear shaft, if feasible, or pull engine to R&R the couper, depending on which was the failure..

i suppose it could be gears too, upper or lower, but i bet if they failed catistrophicly they'd make some noise. + lot's of metal fragments in the gear lub when drained.

if drive failur, i'd think base repair price against a new sei upper/lower, both.
 
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TheSeasLife

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

Well I put on one of my new props with a new prop hob.. Notya..
No smoke or burnt rubber smell. No over heat
No metal..
no rubber
mercury brand
 
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TheSeasLife

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

How can I tell if its the vertical shaft
Also you hear nothing as you shift it into gear like I did before.
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

TheSeasLife said:
How can I tell if its the vertical shaft
Also you hear nothing as you shift it into gear like I did before.
Click to expand...

Ayuh,.... Drop the lower unit off the drive...

If it's broken, you'll see it....
 
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TheSeasLife

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

With that shaft being broken would it make no noise when shifting in to gear since I have no metal or other possible problems that you spoke of earlier?
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

Ayuh,.... It depends on how it broke, straight across, or jagged or whatever...
It may, or may not shift at all...
That happens in the lower, beyond the break...
 
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TheSeasLife

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

Found the problem. Bear with a little. The gear that goes to motor that meshed with gear that goes to lower unit. I took the cover off and both of them gears are totally GONE. Shreaded. History. Nothing left. Drained gear oil and it looks like metal flake paint. How much fluid does the outdrive suppose to have in it? I draind it and it only had 1 QT..How can that happen? Is the mesh bad. No oil? Wish I could find my book on lower unit..Do you guys have link to specs for here?
 
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TheSeasLife

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repair manual alpha 1 outdrive

repair manual alpha 1 outdrive

Is there a manual in these forums for my alpha 1 outdrive. Need to replace the gear that goes to motor and the gear that meshes to it in the upper drive unit..They are shreaded. drained 32 oz oiol out of case. Before I drained I opened top of upper gear case and there was no oil in there. Thats when I seen gears shreaded. Shouldn't there have been oil in there?
 
ziggy

ziggy

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

i think yer pretty much sol man. total metal fragment contamination.
it's likely to cost ya more to fix what ya got than to just plan R&R it with an sei aftermarket alpah1 drive. ya get em here on iboats i believe.
 
ImperialV184

ImperialV184

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Got any pictures, are you referring to the spline gears? Or the internal gears in the upper drive.
 
achris

achris

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Re: repair manual alpha 1 outdrive

Re: repair manual alpha 1 outdrive

TheSeasLife said:
Is there a manual in these forums for my alpha 1 outdrive.
Click to expand...

http://www.4shared.com/document/zz_5pj9o/Service_Manual_06.html

TheSeasLife said:
Need to replace the gear that goes to motor and the gear that meshes to it in the upper drive unit..They are shreaded. drained 32 oz oiol out of case. Before I drained I opened top of upper gear case and there was no oil in there. Thats when I seen gears shreaded. Shouldn't there have been oil in there?
Click to expand...

Yes there should be oil in there. As well as stripping the top box and replacing the gear, and bearings, you'll need to strip and clean out the bottom, as the shredded gear material will have made its way into that box too.

At this stage, with the cost of new gears, bearings and Merc special tools, and what's unknown in the bottom box, it's probably cheaper for you to buy a complete SEI drive... Sold at iBoats with a 3 year warranty....

Chris.......
 
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dubs283

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

TheSeasLife said:
..How can that happen? Is the mesh bad. No oil?
Click to expand...

bad seal = loss of gear lube = destroyed upper gears

split the drive, teardown, clean and inspect the lower, if everything looks good reaseal the lower, new water pump and you can get just an upper half

as far as a manual, you can look in the DIY section for yours or theres a file share website that has some, not sure where the links are though
 
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Sandbank

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Jan 7, 2012
Messages
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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

I had the same thing happen to mine last year. The top gears were worn smooth. Unless there is direct evidence of a cause would also try and find one as may just do the replacement in also. My probable cause was before I purchased the boat it was not fitted with a shift interupt switch which meant always had to argue with and force the unit out of gear which untimately caused the failure. New shift interup swich and new drive was the easiest way around...Lessons learnt, if possible always try and open the upper gear unit on any stern drive ur thinking of buying (worth the cost of a gasket to give to the seller!), and check the int switch!
 
etracer68

etracer68

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Oct 11, 2009
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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

As far as I know the Alpha's horisontal gear shaft, is only supported on one end of the gear. This just makes for a failure waiting to happen. The smallest amount of wear on the bearings, or there preload, and the two gears will tend to want to push away from each other, and cause a failure. I think the Bravo 1 and above are supported on each end of the shaft. Also the OMC Cobra is supported on both sides of the gear. I never owned a Alpha, but about 10 years ago, a freind of mine had one, with a 454 in a 27' boat. We had to rebuild the top end every year. After about three years of doing this, he found a good Bravo 1, problem solved. I know the Alpha is only rated for 300HP, but I never could cosy up to an Alpha design. I know I may get beat up on this opinon, but its my .0002.
 
Bondo

Bondo

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

TheSeasLife said:
Found the problem. Bear with a little. The gear that goes to motor that meshed with gear that goes to lower unit. I took the cover off and both of them gears are totally GONE. Shreaded. History. Nothing left. Drained gear oil and it looks like metal flake paint. How much fluid does the outdrive suppose to have in it? I draind it and it only had 1 QT..How can that happen? Is the mesh bad. No oil? Wish I could find my book on lower unit..Do you guys have link to specs for here?
Click to expand...

Ayuh,.... Ya had a leak, it holds 'bout a qt., 'n 1/2.....

The Best, 'n Cheapest way outa this is a new SEI drive....
 
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TheSeasLife

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Messages
102
Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

Bond-o said:
Ayuh,.... Ya had a leak, it holds 'bout a qt., 'n 1/2.....

The Best, 'n Cheapest way outa this is a new SEI drive....
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info guys. I am now looking into new. Wife seems to have different idea. She looked at complete rebuild kits and found out that "I" bless her heart , can fix it myself.. lol. Says that we can buy upper complete kit including bearings, gears, and seals and a lower gasket and seals kit for $500. Whats your thoughts so I can show her that you guys are right...
 
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dubs283

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

TheSeasLife said:
we can buy upper complete kit including bearings, gears, and seals and a lower gasket and seals kit for $500.
Click to expand...

well...thats definitely not OEM parts for that price

and unless you have the special tools and knowledge to rebuild the upper, its gonna be a challenge for you

you would be better off buying a new/reman with a warranty
 
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dubs283

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Re: Alpha 1 Gen 1 Came out of gear

Sandbank said:
Unless there is direct evidence of a cause would also try and find one as may just do the replacement in also. My probable cause was before I purchased the boat it was not fitted with a shift interupt switch which meant always had to argue with and force the unit out of gear which untimately caused the failure
Click to expand...

doubtful that the lack of a shift interrupt switch caused that failure, the direct evidence in your case was a lack of lubrication - the gears overheat, expand, chip, break and are forced into each other so much that they wear the teeth down to the bottom

if you are having that big an issue shifting it would be in your best interest to troubleshhot that issue instead of running it til something failed - i would also venture to guess you didn't do much maintenance on your drive otherwise you would have noted water in the gear lube pointing in the direction of a failed seal
 
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