1993 3.0 Clutch Issue?

[taylorjheinzen]

Hey guys, new to the forum, and pretty new to boats as well, so thanks for any and all help. I know as many details as possible help, so excuse me if I'm too thorough. I bought a 1993 Bayliner 1950 Classic with the 3.0 in it last month. It was meticulously maintained and cared for, all service history kept and 325 engine hours. I've taken it out several times including the water test from the owner, and it ran smooth, APART from there was a little clunk shifting into gear, that I just assumed was normal. The clunk got worse each time I took it out, and now last night, I was cruising at about 4K RPM, the engine all of a sudden revved to about 5K and preceded to stall out. Tried starting it up again, turned over, idles, but then stalls out after giving it throttle. Lifted the cover to find water in the bilge and some white smoke. Tried this 3 times, same thing. Got towed in, and when I was docked, I started it up, put it in gear, and instead of stalling out, the RPM's hit up, but no drive or prop movement, much like a clutch out for a car. My uncle is a boat guy and feels it might be a lower unit prob. Thoughts?

 

[thumpar]

There isn't a clutch like a car. There are clutch dogs that engage. It could be anything from a lower shift cable adjustment to lower unit issue. The clunk going into gear is normal on an Alpha. Try pulling the shift cable off the shift plate to manually shift the lower unit and see if it shifts (not running).

 

[Scott Danforth]

Could be a bad coupler

 

[Rick Stephens]

Sounds like coupler to me as well. The coupler is bolted to the flywheel and has a socket for the drive shaft mounted in rubber. Shearing the rubber can cause smoke and burning rubber smells in the engine compartment.

 

[Bondo]

Thoughts?

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,..... Drain the oil outa the drive, 'n look for silver, 'n metal chunks as it flows outa the drain hole,....

Next step is to Pull the drive, 6 nuts, 'n the trim rams is all it takes,...

Whether there's metal in the oil determines which way ya go at that point,....

If the coupler went out, there should be evidence on the drive's input shaft,....

 

[taylorjheinzen]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the advice. Looking into couplers, and they don't seem to be as pricey as I expected. Any ideas on how long that job takes approximately?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Coupler replacement requires an engine removal. 45 minutes to get it out, swap the coupler and return the engine in another couple hours, at most. Depending on how tight your engine compartment is, I'll bet a good marine mechanic can cut it in half.

 

[Bondo]

Any ideas on how long that job takes approximately?

Ayuh,.... My personal Best was 'bout 4 hours, from backin' into a well equipped shop, to backin' down the launch to go for a boat ride,....

 

[taylorjheinzen]

Got the word back from the mechanic and it was a few things. First, the coupler was bad, needed to be replaced. The problem would have stopped there, if the engine wouldn't have kept stalling out with throttle. My mechanic is assuming it's a bent or broken shaft that's causing it to override any throttle activity. He'll be ripping it open today. I'm assuming it's gonna be a lot of labor, but it will officially solve all the issues.

PS. Water in the bilge was from some leftover rain water that I just forgot to pump out. Smoke was from a bad water pump that will need to be replaced too. An unlucky outing no doubt, but rather find that out here in May on a solo joy ride, than a weekend in July out with 6 people!

 

[thumpar]

If you are talking about the impeller as the pump it wouldn't be turning with a bad coupler anyway.

 

[Rick Stephens]

My mechanic is assuming it's a bent or broken shaft that's causing it to override any throttle activity.

That doesn't make any sense at all. I guess something lost in the translation. Hope it isn't a mechanic who isn't very mechanical.