Alpha 1 gen 2 lower unit (gear housing) drive shaft removal

[rustybronco]

1995 Alpha 1 Gen 2

Can the lower unit drive shaft be removed without the tool (91-61067A3 pinion nut adapter) used to hold the pinion nut? I need to remove the shaft (45-816472) in order to properly? flush the lower and inspect the forward, reverse, pinion gears and shaft bearings.

Thanks in advance, Dale

 

[Bondo]

1995 Alpha 1 Gen 2

Can the lower unit drive shaft be removed without the tool (91-61067A3 pinion nut adapter) used to hold the pinion nut? I need to remove the shaft (45-816472) in order to properly? flush the lower and inspect the forward, reverse, pinion gears and shaft bearings.

Thanks in advance, Dale

Ayuh,..... In a word,..... Nope,.....

It takes a boat load of special tools to rebuild an Alpha drive,......

That's why the SEI replacements are the best answer,.....
Either the cost of the tooling, or the cost of the labor, 'n parts for somebody else to do it,......
Just ain't worth it,......

 

[Rick Stephens]

+1 to Bondo ↑

That retainer nut is seriously tight. You gotta have the tool. I made one up for an Alpha one and it was a pure deluxe beotch to get loose. I have a welding and machine shop and ended up buying an SEI when I figured out the cost of the tools, let alone parts.

 

[rustybronco]

Ayuh,..... In a word,..... Nope,.....

It takes a boat load of special tools to rebuild an Alpha drive,......

That's why the SEI replacements are the best answer,.....
Either the cost of the tooling, or the cost of the labor, 'n parts for somebody else to do it,......
Just ain't worth it,......

Well I ain't paying no one to rebuild it so zero there. I have most of the special tools necessary to repair it 'located' but this one was the stickler to get it apart for inspection. When I get the carrier removed I'll see what the forward gear looks like then decide If I want to buy the tool or cobble something together to hold that nut.

I have new gears coming for the upper. I figure I'll have $325 in it if it needs all the bearings. New lower gears are $100. Haven't figured out the rest of the part costs if all the bearings and seals have to be replaced.

Thanks for the help Bondo!

 

[rustybronco]

+1 to Bondo ↑

That retainer nut is seriously tight. You gotta have the tool. I made one up for an Alpha one and it was a pure deluxe beotch to get loose. I have a welding and machine shop and ended up buying an SEI when I figured out the cost of the tools, let alone parts.

Most of the tools can be gotten locally for cheap money. (including the three shimming tools) Some of the others can be fabricobbled. Dial indicator, in lb beam style torque wench, press, bearing removal plate those I have. The slide hammer I think a friend of mine has so I would need to get the two or three jawed adapter to remove the cups from the case. I may have to wit until either a cheap 'good' lower comes along or that tool can be had for cheaper money.

 

[Bt Doctur]

you could try a open end wrench thats been thinned down a bit

 

[rustybronco]

I had thought about that earlier. What I might do is get some H.S.S., plasma cut a wrench outline and grind out the opening for the nut.

S.E.I Gen 2 lower is $1075 plus the kit.

 

[Daithi]

1995 Alpha 1 Gen 2

Can the lower unit drive shaft be removed without the tool (91-61067A3 pinion nut adapter) used to hold the pinion nut? I need to remove the shaft (45-816472) in order to properly? flush the lower and inspect the forward, reverse, pinion gears and shaft bearings.

Thanks in advance, Dale

Yup but not easy. I did it with a friends help by using a lathe to hold the drive shaft with some protective brass sheet in the jaws and supporting the housing. Have the lather back gear engaged. Then insert a long or extended 17mm spanner on the pinion nut and crack it free.

 

[rustybronco]

you could try a open end wrench thats been thinned down a bit

I've the lower half apart again to remove/ clean out metal bits that weren't removed by flushing and changing the gear oil. (Just tried the flush with mineral spirits initially. Didn't work.) To be safe I tore into the lower unit to inspect. I was able to use a 22MM open end wrench along with the proper tools for the input shaft to remove the nut.

The amount of metal that was left after flushing and gear oil changes was negligible. Could easily have ran it.

 

[nola mike]

I've the lower half apart again to remove/ clean out metal bits that weren't removed by flushing and changing the gear oil. (Just tried the flush with mineral spirits initially. Didn't work.) To be safe I tore into the lower unit to inspect. I was able to use a 22MM open end wrench along with the proper tools for the input shaft to remove the nut.

The amount of metal that was left after flushing and gear oil changes was negligible. Could easily have ran it.

Nice info. Did the upper gears get wiped? Conventional wisdom on here is that the lower needs full disassemble after that, but I can't recall seeing what happens after just a flush

 

[rustybronco]

Nice info. Did the upper gears get wiped? Conventional wisdom on here is that the lower needs full disassemble after that, but I can't recall seeing what happens after just a flush

Yes.

I bought the boat with a bad outdrive. I replaced the upper gear set and all the bearings plus the reverse gear bearings, the upper housing as the metal from the gears getting destroyed ground away the inside making it difficult to drive in the lower race. (Warped housing?)

I flushed the lower about ten times with the carrier removed. Wasn't enough.
Now that the lower is apart the only thing I'm replacing is the input shaft (drive shaft) bearing and race because of minor pitting.

It would have been cheaper to buy a used outdrive but what are you really getting? A unit who's condition is unknown.

 

[nola mike]

Ok, I might have misunderstood. Thought that you initially flushed only, then disassembled but didn't find any residual metal, ie the lower didn't need the disassembly and flushing would have been adequate

 

[rustybronco]

Ok, I might have misunderstood. Thought that you initially flushed only, then disassembled but didn't find any residual metal, ie the lower didn't need the disassembly and flushing would have been adequate

Bought the boat with bad outdrive.

Completely repaired upper half, including the upper housing, removed the lower bearing carrier, flushed the lower about ten times with with mineral spirits, (all bearings rotated trying to dislodge any metal) reassembled the complete drive and installed it on the boat. I ran boat for an hour mostly at slow to moderate speeds on the black river (no wake) and around ten minutes on the St, Clair river. Returned to the dock, loaded it on the trailer and brought the boat home, Let it set for a period of time (overnight?) and drained the gear oil. I found a slight amount of metal in the oil proceeded to refill with fresh gear oil. Took the boat out a second time for about three hours, brought it home, let it set and drained the oil again. Although the contamination was finer this time there was more metal in it than the first. At at point I removed the drive, drained then and tore it apart. Found very little remaining metal in the lower. Upper was clean with no damage. The input bearing on the lower half had a few minor pits on the rollers. It could easily have been reused but I decided to replace it while apart. (Timken M84548/M84510 replaced by same.)

 

[rustybronco]

Correction. Bearing part number is a M84549. Race is still the same.