Alpha 1 Gen 2 trouble shooting and Repair advice

[coreysmach1]

Ok so I test drove the boat I'm working on. there was a clunking sound coming from what sounded like it was coming from behind the motor. Also the boat went in revers with no problem but when it put the boat in forward it just revved but didn't move and with playing around with It, it would then catch and go forward(kind of jumped in gear when it caught). I recheck the stern drive oil and this time not milky, I replaced the washers on the vent / drain plugs so maybe that was a part of it. I have now removed the out drive and inspected the shaft and ujoints and they seem to be in good shape but when I pulled the drive apart water came out from where the gimbal bearing is. Since I have it apart I am going to change out the gimbal bearing anyway hoping that its bad and the sound is coming from there. What else could be wrong? what else should I look at / replace?

 

[nola mike]

You need to find where the water is coming from. Start with checking your drive shaft bellows. Also, since they were exposed to water, your U-joints are now suspect. The safe bet is to replace them, but I've gotten by with just regreasing them in the past. If there's any signs of moisture in the shift shaft cavity, your shifting problems may be due to a bad lower shift cable. Now would be a good time to replace that as well.

 

[coreysmach1]

Thanks I will replace the lower shift cable also and take another look at the ujoints.
so what are the chances that I will get out with just fixing these thing and the clunking noise will go away and not have to go into the lower unit? what are sings that something might be wrong in the lower unit?