This has been a nightmare. I have been fixing everything mechanical and electronic for the last 30 years of my life and this whole engine issue just wont give me a break. I replaced the lower seals in my outdrive, put it all back together and mounted it on the boat. I filled it with oil and took it out for a run. The boat with the new motor ran amazingly for 10 minutes. Then the boat went in to limp mode. I headed back to shore at no wake speed and the boat shut off. I found that it had overheated. While i was waiting for seatow, i found the problem. I never tightened the clamp on the neutra-salt system so the boat could not suck up any seawater for cooling. I ran it in my driveway for quite a bit but the motor has a hose connection for flushing so i never picked up on it. I must have knocked the hose off the neutra-salt system at some point and that was the culprit.
Moving forward i continued with my test run. again, the boat was running amazingly.....Then it just stopped. The damn thing was locked solid. Called seatow once again. Got the boat home and concluded that the outdrive was either seized or the new gimbal bearing had seized. I took the dipstick out of the top of the drive and could smell it was burnt. It was dry. Nothing was showing on the dipstick. Where did the 2.7 qts of oil i put in 4 hours earlier go?
The next morning i tool the drive off the boat and opened the drain. About 2 qts came out. I split the drive open (top and bottom) and found the top was in fact seized but the bottom moved freely. I took the shift mechanism off the top of the drive and it was loaded with shavings and metal splinters. I took the lower section apart and it appears to be perfectly fine. The gears look good and although there were some VERY fine metal shavings, nothing looked damaged.
I have concluded that i didnt have enough oil in the drive. I cant for the life of me come up with another sensible reason for this. When filling the drive i had to remove the hose for the pump at the drain the put the plug back in. I lost a bit of oil but i didnt think too much. When i checked the level on the dipstik it was low. I added some to bring it back to full but im thinking i didnt get enough in. The only way to add oil is via the dipstick. Im thinking there was air that made it look full when it wasnt.
Now, since i have a DPS-a with stainless props. I have yet another problem. Since a new DPS-a can not be purchased, my only option was to get a DPS-b . That means new hubs for both sets of props and all total with pressing the hubs into the props, i was looking at about $9000.
Option 2 is to buy just the top section of the drive for 3800 and use my old bottom half. I chose the latter not so much because of the difference in price but also because doing this would be a much faster solution. I can still get the bottom half and add that if necessary.
So far this season i have invested (including this latest mess) approximately $11,000 and have yet to have a day on the water. No one in their right mind could honestly say they dont care about the money but im so numb with all of this i just want to get back in the water.
Anyone have any thoughts on this (other than to sell it and take up golf)?
Moving forward i continued with my test run. again, the boat was running amazingly.....Then it just stopped. The damn thing was locked solid. Called seatow once again. Got the boat home and concluded that the outdrive was either seized or the new gimbal bearing had seized. I took the dipstick out of the top of the drive and could smell it was burnt. It was dry. Nothing was showing on the dipstick. Where did the 2.7 qts of oil i put in 4 hours earlier go?
The next morning i tool the drive off the boat and opened the drain. About 2 qts came out. I split the drive open (top and bottom) and found the top was in fact seized but the bottom moved freely. I took the shift mechanism off the top of the drive and it was loaded with shavings and metal splinters. I took the lower section apart and it appears to be perfectly fine. The gears look good and although there were some VERY fine metal shavings, nothing looked damaged.
I have concluded that i didnt have enough oil in the drive. I cant for the life of me come up with another sensible reason for this. When filling the drive i had to remove the hose for the pump at the drain the put the plug back in. I lost a bit of oil but i didnt think too much. When i checked the level on the dipstik it was low. I added some to bring it back to full but im thinking i didnt get enough in. The only way to add oil is via the dipstick. Im thinking there was air that made it look full when it wasnt.
Now, since i have a DPS-a with stainless props. I have yet another problem. Since a new DPS-a can not be purchased, my only option was to get a DPS-b . That means new hubs for both sets of props and all total with pressing the hubs into the props, i was looking at about $9000.
Option 2 is to buy just the top section of the drive for 3800 and use my old bottom half. I chose the latter not so much because of the difference in price but also because doing this would be a much faster solution. I can still get the bottom half and add that if necessary.
So far this season i have invested (including this latest mess) approximately $11,000 and have yet to have a day on the water. No one in their right mind could honestly say they dont care about the money but im so numb with all of this i just want to get back in the water.
Anyone have any thoughts on this (other than to sell it and take up golf)?