1st stern drive

[Kevin bbq]

Hi everyone, at the end of summer I bought an old mercruiser stern drive, (alpha 1) I watched the outdrive go up and down in October. Yesterday the engine turned over great but the lower end of the stern drive won't move. I have hydraulic oil in the res and the pump/ motor makes a nice sound. But no movement. Is there a lock used during transportation that holds it up? What would cause it to just freeze up? Thanks

 

[Kevin bbq]

Actually my terminology is way off. My trim and lift/lower is what I'm having problems with. Everything seems fine, its just not moving. Could still be to cold out I suppose. Temperature hasn't reached 60°f yet. Any advice will help.

 

[alldodge]

What drive do you have, Alpha gen 1 or 2, or maybe Bravo?
What year is the boat?

 

[Kevin bbq]

Not sure of the drive. It's a 1988 citation with the 4 cyl mercruiser. Runs great, everything worked great at the end of summer. the previous owner towed it to my house for me so Im not even sure if there's just a locking device for when it's being towed. A pin or something?

 

[alldodge]

Being a 1988, I think what you have is the trim cylinders seals are binding inside the cylinders. Its an easy fix, but need to take them apart and put new seals in them.

Find someone to stand on the drive and see if it will then go down by pushing the down button

 

[Kevin bbq]

I'll wait another week til it warms up a bit and if that doesn't help, I'll check for air in the lines and get some one to add weight. Thanks

 

[andrewterri]

kevin bbq, the temperature is not your problem. go to the back of your drive and see if you can see the silver rams. there is a support/locking device some people buy that goes over the cylinder rams then the unit is lowered until the weight is resting on those black plastic devices. If they are there you would not be able to see the silver rams. if you can see the silver rams than you likely have bad seals like what alldodge said. I would also check and make sure the switch on the remote is working.

 

[Scott Danforth]

could be as simple as you raised it all the way up and the blocking check is now stuck. have a 300# buddy stand on the out-drive and bounce on it as you press the lower button.

always drop it down just a bump of the switch

 

[Alumarine]

And try not to run the motor with the drive all the way up.
It's hard on the ujoints.
Hopefully you were running it with muffs supplying water.

 

[Kevin bbq]

In not ran it for about 5 minutes to get it to idle to see where we stand as far as a 1st start up. Yes always with earmuffs.

 

[Kevin bbq]

I read in another thread that once it's in the water, the force of the prop will drop the shaft with a few bumps of the switch. Is it worth a try of should I bite the bullet and rebuild them now?

 

[andrewterri]

They need to be rebuilt. Yes putting the drive in forward will force the drive down. the problem is if there is no back pressure it can slam the drive into the bell housing which can cause damage to it or the transom. Same issue when you put it in reverse. the drive will swing up very quickly and try to jump out of the water. Both situations are dangerous and needs to be fixed correctly.

 

[Kevin bbq]

I've decided to replace them if I can free them up with the help of a heavy friend.