why its important to pull the drive yearly and do proper maintenance

stang32

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
513
so, this boat came to me after the owner heard it makign noise and shut it down, then it would not start again,
the studs holding the flywheel and coupler to the crank had al lsnapped off and the flywheel was sitting on the floor of the bellhousing.
in pulling the engine, i had to remove the drive assy, when i di this the drive was s severly stuck in the would nto gimbal when i used the trim cylnders ot crakc it loose, the whole bearing carrier tore away from the drive and was lodged into the pivot housing.
the owner told me how good the boat has been to him for the past 5 years and all he really di to it was change the oil, oh and he put sa new starter in, which also had a broken bolt n the block that he di not feel necessary to repair. . i spent a day soaking the pivot housing in rust buster, but that did nothing, along with using an air chisel(hammer) but the carrier would not budge, finally i went in with as sawzall and cut the casrrier in 2, which gave it some space alowing me to chisel the 2 pieces out to reveal the shite corrosion inside the housing. there is over $1800.00 in parts needed to repair this and over 2 days labor, including sending the engine to the machine shop to remove 6 crank bolts and 1 starter bolt from the block`
so, the lesson here is: pul the drive yearly, lubricate the spines, check the alignment and inspect the bellows.
Maintenance is your vital
 

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stang32

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
513
now in english:::confused:


so, this boat came to me after the owner heard it making noise and shut it down, then it would not start again,
the studs holding the flywheel and coupler to the crank had all snapped off and the flywheel was sitting on the floor of the bellhousing.
in pulling the engine, i had to remove the drive assy, when i tried to do this the drive was severly stuck in the would not come loose from the gimbal. i even used the trim cylnders to crack it loose, i finaly got it to budge and found that the whole bearing carrier tore away from the drive and was lodged into the pivot housing.
the owner told me how good the boat has been to him for the past 5 years and all he really did to it was change the oil, oh and he put a new starter in, which also had a broken bolt in the block that he did not feel necessary to repair. . i spent a day soaking the pivot housing in rust buster, but that did nothing, along with using an air chisel(hammer) but the carrier would not budge, finally i went in with as sawzall and cut the carrier in 2, which gave it some space alowing me to chisel the 2 pieces out to reveal the extenive corrosion inside the housing which locked the carrier in the pivot housing. there is over $1800.00 in parts needed to repair this and over 2 days labor, including sending the engine to the machine shop to remove 6 crank bolts and 1 starter bolt from the block`
so, the lesson here is: pul the drive yearly, lubricate everything, check the alignment and inspect the bellows.
Maintenance is vital
 

stang32

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
513
[No message]
 

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BRICH1260

Lieutenant
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Messages
1,342
It amazes how many people I talk to that seldom pull their drive. Fortunate for them most boat in fresh water which helps a little. The obvious reason is to inspect gimble bearing, U-joints and bellows but also to re-grease the mating surfaces that allow separation of parts in the future.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,296
an ounce of prevention is cheaper than a ton of cure.
 

Saline Marina

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 9, 2014
Messages
162
I just pulled the drive after 5 years (SX-M) mainly due to a noisy gimbal bearing this spring. I could not believe how easy it was....I felt intimidated by the procedure and put it off....but...why?

That the double-u-joint driveshaft asm is a ~$330+ assembly without individual repair parts should be enough motivation to get in there and lube it if it has zerks but if not, at bare minimum,. make sure the upper bellows doesn't have any water in it...
 
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