Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

Hello Everyone,

First off, i really appreciate all the time everyone puts in on here helping out others. These forums have been very helpful while rebuilding my boat from the bottom up.

I have an 83 Mercruiser 470 Alpha 1 Gen II.

The short story: The boat sat for about 10 years. One of the family members decided to try and get it to run and overheated and seized the motor. 1 year later the Engine was rebuilt. And then the following year, the boat was then given to me about 4 months ago. I Have done all the following; Impeller replaced. Electrical upgraded/replaced. Stator switched to alternator. Points-Plugs-Condenser replaced. Gear oil changed. Hydraulic pump replaced. All gauges replaced. All interior re-upholstered. New floor and new carpeting. Stereo installed. Horn replaced. Carb replaced.

Currently I am working on replacing the gasket for the exhaust elbow and tank, replacing the bellows assembly, cleaning out condensation build up in the valve cover and replacing the gasket. Replacing the exhaust shutter. Replacing the stern exhaust bellow. Replacing Spark plugs and all fluids.

The problem:

Up until now i have been able to find all my questions answered here, but now i'm stuck.

When the engine overheated and seized, it looks like it melted the (at the time) metal shutter retaining ring. Sending the shutter and half of the retaining ring down the exhaust. You can hear it tinging in there somewhere while the engine is running on the muffs. Also, while on the muffs it is blocking the exhaust port somewhere, forcing all water and exhaust to exit from the idle release valves. When in the water however, all water and exhaust exit normally though the prop, almost as if the water is making the shutter float out of the way.

My question is where in the heck is it. I have the exhaust removed down to the flange where the shutter is supposed to sit, i shoved a mirror down there with a light and did not see any remnants. I also pulled off the stern drive side of the exhaust bellow, although vision is limited i did not see it their either. So where should i look next. Is it in the leg? And if so whats more likely, for it to be stuck up top or down below. Should i just drop the bottom portion of the leg and look first or should i remove the whole leg?

Sorry for making this post so long, but the last 4 months has been nothing but money in parts and hundreds of hours of work to completely restore and old family boat, and i am now being slapped in the face with a rubber piece of junk.

For the record this is my first "boat" project. I am fairly mechanically inclined and have done pretty well so far. But i have not had to take the leg completely off before. I found some great videos of the process and can do it if advised its the best route.

Re: Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

My guess is that it is long gone, and what you hear is not the shutter rattling. As I understand it, water coming out of the relief is normal on muffs. I don,t think the shutter part would go past the exhaust bellows. Without the outdrive on you could try pushing one of those flexible claw thingies http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_7dw7q6ya2e_e up the exhaust to make sure. If it comes out of the top without encountering the part you should be OK. Good luck.

Re: Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

I have found them in the drive. Just take the drive off and look inside.

Re: Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

Don S said:

I have found them in the drive. Just take the drive off and look inside.

Click to expand...

So take off the whole leg? Or just the lower?

Also, that's an awesome signature.

Re: Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

The whole drive comes off. Then you can look into the bottom of the Y pipe, and inside the drive.

You should be pulling that drive yearly for maintenance. It only takes 10 minutes to pull, and an $8 gasket set.

Re: Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

Don S said:

The whole drive comes off. Then you can look into the bottom of the Y pipe, and inside the drive.

You should be pulling that drive yearly for maintenance. It only takes 10 minutes to pull, and an $8 gasket set.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I will do it later today.

Re: Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

Don S said:

The whole drive comes off. Then you can look into the bottom of the Y pipe, and inside the drive.

You should be pulling that drive yearly for maintenance. It only takes 10 minutes to pull, and an $8 gasket set.

Click to expand...

Got it all off. Still don't see any shutter shrapnel, so i guess i gotta go lower. Also may have discovered another problem. Is this milky substance normal? See attached pic

Looks to be oil and water, not sure why its there.

EDIT, lower right, looks like a gasket not sitting properly maybe?

Re: Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

If you are looking for shutter pieces, then look in the lower bellow and back into the y pipe. Also look into the drive.

Now your ujoint bellows. You need gimbal bearing, ujoints, and probably the input shaft seal and yoke to seal the drive again.
Yes the gasket probably caused the problem, but how old is that bellows?, do you really trust it? do you want to go through all this again if it wasn't just that ring? Your choice.

Re: Shutter lost to the bowels... somewhere

Well the bellows were all "supposed" to have been replaced about a year ago. However, it appears that the exhaust bellow was not, although the top one seems pretty new, and after i cleaned it up looks to be in good condition. The bearings also appear to be in good condition once they were not all covered in sludge.

For the shutter, i have looked in from engine side, i have looked up the bellow from bell housing side, and down the leg from below the spline shaft. At this point, the only place i could think it will be is in the leg, which means i need to drop the oil and take off the lower half.

If you agree then i will continue with that.