'83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

[classiccat]

I'm rebuilding the LU of my 35ELCTS after seeing alot of metal shavings in the oil.

After breaking it down, I was greeted with the following:

• Pinion Destroyed (must replace)
• Forward Gear Damage to 2 teeth (plan to replace)
• Shift lever Cradle is lightly gouged but I think i can file out the defects
• LU housing: Deep gouge that I can repair
• Clutch Dog, prop shaft, reverse gear and bearings were all in good shape.

Note: no observable performance issues this season...which is mind boggling when you see the condition of the pinion.

The last person to have operated on this LU was an Evinrude dealer 4-seasons ago

2 observations:

• there weren't any shims found (nor does it say to shim these gears in the Seloc manual)
• the front bearing race fell-out when I tipped the housing

Questions:

• Does this model engine require shims?
• Shouldn't that race be pressed-in? I was quite surprised when it fell-out without any "persuasion"; I believe this to be root-cause.

Damaged Cradle (clutch dog, reverse gear & prop shaft were as clean as a whistle)


Pinion:


Forward Gear Damaged (2 teeth):


Housing Gouged:


Thanks!

 

[rolmops]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

There are a lot of 35 horse lower units on the market, (ebay and such). Replacing the entire lower unit will cost about half of replacing all the damaged parts. Besides,you can sell whatever good parts are left over.

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

There are a lot of 35 horse lower units on the market, (ebay and such). Replacing the entire lower unit will cost about half of replacing all the damaged parts. Besides,you can sell whatever good parts are left over.

Thanks for the advice! I'll keep my eyes peeled.

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

i found a pinion for< $70...decisions, decisions. :lol:

 

[boobie]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

I'd look around for a used lower unit. Check the top secret files at the beginning of this forum and look for salvage yards.

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

I'd look around for a used lower unit. Check the top secret files at the beginning of this forum and look for salvage yards.

Thanks for pointing me to that thread! I've placed a few inquiries.

I'm a forward gear & seal-kit away from assembling my LU..which will include setting the forward race so that it's fully seated :lol:

The other guts of this LU are pristine whereas you're never sure what's hidden in a salvaged LU. Regardless, I certainly won't turn down a good deal if one shows up! I would like to have a spare on-hand as I have no intentions of replacing this motor anytime soon.

 

[stylesabu]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

you need a factory manual if your going to re-build, you'll need to make some measurements as to the need of sims. those chipped gears came from somebody hitting something. i know I have rebuilt a couple of lower units. good used is more cost effective unless you can rebuild yourself. My 150 the forward and reverse and pinion gears were 300.00 of ebay best price I found, lower unit used is 5-600.00

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

you need a factory manual if your going to re-build, you'll need to make some measurements as to the need of sims. those chipped gears came from somebody hitting something. i know I have rebuilt a couple of lower units. good used is more cost effective unless you can rebuild yourself. My 150 the forward and reverse and pinion gears were 300.00 of ebay best price I found, lower unit used is 5-600.00

Thanks for the suggestions! I have a factory service manual on order. Unfortunately this one includes all 1983 motors (2-200hp) so hopefully they didn't skimp on the deets! My gut is telling me that with the original housing, I won't need shims but I'd rather know than guess.

I've been at the helm this entire season and don't recall ever hitting anything. Then again, many of its hours this season were logged on a flooded river where the motor was at its limits & debris of all shapes/sizes was present.

I'm still highly suspicious of the unseated front bearing race. All of the parts are cleaned/oiled/bagged (still working on removing the shift rod bushing :twitch. After reassembly, I'll let y'all know if that race is normally lightly-seated. If not, i'll be sure to let the 'rude dealer know :lol:

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

I was able to cleanly remove the shift rod bushing/o-rings using a make-shift slide hammer and a little heat...this may be helpful for folks who can't punch-it out from the bottom. I tried picking-out the o-rings for 90min last night to no avail.

I ground-down 2 1/4-20 nuts to fit into the lower hole, then threaded them onto a long piece of 1/4-20 all-thread that was inserted through a stabilizer & the lower unit.



A stabilizer to prevent the all-thread from deflecting:


The slide-weight (it's nice to see these things finally getting some use :lol


The bushing / o-rings removed:

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

Initially, I only planned to change the seals however I noticed shards trapped inside of the bearing cages...and I don't want to risk them locking-up and damaging the prop/drive shafts.

the bearings pop-out with a pilot bearing puller and a little heat.


I'm not comfortable whacking on the new needle bearings...and I'm too cheap to buy a press :lol:

* initially this was a intended to be a prototype but it was plenty for these small bearings... i'd be apprehensive using lumber on anything larger.

I actually have the insertion tool for the forward bearing. Gave the bearing a chill in my freezer and the carrier some heat...

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

Unfortunately I don't have the aft insertion tool so some sockets / all-thread would have to suffice.


Another nice thing was having the ability to measure the travel & avoid pushing the bearing against the seat.




Next I have to pop-in the seals & once a new FW gear arrives (dirt cheap ), i'll be able to slap this bad boy back together, vacuum/pressure test it... just in-time for the spring striper run!

 

[jasper60103]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

BlueFin,
thanks for the detailed pics and instructions.
Hope to see her running some day.
Please keep us posted.

jasper

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

I appreciate that Jasper!

The following may help shefixalot on his/her '82 35hp LU project:

The back-to-back bearing-carrier seals went-in without a hitch using my prototype press (we have our eye on some steel C-channel for the real deal). Perhaps hammering them in would've been adequate but it seems like you have better control with a press.

I may have been able to simultaneously place both seals using the forward-bearing insertion tool however I was concerned that the force would distort/deform the outer seal (probably being overly cautious here as well :lol. Therefore I opted to press them in 2 steps as performed in the FSM.

The metal of each seal was coated with gasket sealer immediately prior to being pressed.

prior to being pressed:


inner seal loaded on the makeshift insertion tool:


inner seal pressed with the outer seal loaded on the forward bearing insertion tool (this ensures the lip of the seal is flush with the bearing carrier rim)


Once the sealer dries, i'll pack the area between/along the 2 rubber seals with triple-guard grease.

 

[likitvi]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

I have a LU from 1980 E35ECSM awaiting a rebuild, thanks for the writeup!

It sounds like I found an used LU dirt-cheap, paid about 200 USD for it. Though I plan to rebuild the old one also.

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

I have a LU from 1980 E35ECSM awaiting a rebuild, thanks for the writeup!

It sounds like I found an used LU dirt-cheap, paid about 200 USD for it. Though I plan to rebuild the old one also.

yeah man, deals are out there! I now have enough to do another overhaul if needed...due in large part to a fellow iboats member looking out for me!! (Thanks Jason!!).

The only part that stung a bit was that cast shift cradle that I had to buy new (damaged beyond repair)...to the tune of $50+. :cold:

Have fun with your rebuild!

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

Forward gear arrived this week and spent the day putting it back together.

New Forward gear and Pinion in place:


Shift-lever engaged the ears on the shift cradle; ice-pick and dental tools come-in handy here:


Reverse gear & shift-yoke engaging shift-lever:


Split ring...not my friend today :dread:


Bearing carrier installed; torqued to spec:

 

[classiccat]

Re: '83 Evinrude 35Hp LU: Busted Pinion

Initially I thought that I had a sloooow leak...turns out that it was the MityVac hose connection...30min of anxiety & 12gal of water down the drain :facepalm: :lol:


Initial pressure once the hose-nipple leak was corrected:


30min:


15min vacuum:


I'll slap-on the waterpump tomorrow and maybe even fit-in a tank-test!

Hopefully these pics help a few guys out...it's the least that I can do for the amount of information that I've sponged-up off of iboats!