Alpha one gen 1 questions

[Hlumley07]

Last summer I was out on the boat. Noticed a kind of ticking coming from rear end of boat. I heard the same if you spin the prop out of the water. I was taking it easy coming back to shore and I heard a bang then lost all thrust. When boat is in gear it wants to die. However neutral it runs. I drained lower to check for metal shavings but didn't notice anything too out of the normal. Any ideas what couldve broke?

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard

you may have a broken gear set (pull the top cover and look), a broken u-joint set (pull the drive and look), or a broken coupler (pull the drive and look)

If its the coupler, you will need to pull the motor to repair
if its a gear set, you will need to replace the drive
if its a u-joint set, you may be able to just replace the u-joint shaft

How often were you pulling the drive for the annual maintenance and inspection?

 

[Hlumley07]

Last summer I was out on the boat. Noticed a kind of ticking coming from rear end of boat. I heard the same if you spin the prop out of the water. I was taking it easy coming back to shore and I heard a bang then lost all thrust. When boat is in gear it wants to die. However neutral it runs. I drained lower to check for metal shavings but didn't notice anything too out of the normal. Any ideas what couldve brok

welcome aboard

you may have a broken gear set (pull the top cover and look), a broken u-joint set (pull the drive and look), or a broken coupler (pull the drive and look)

If its the coupler, you will need to pull the motor to repair
if its a gear set, you will need to replace the drive
if its a u-joint set, you may be able to just replace the u-joint shaft

How often were you pulling the drive for the annual maintenance and inspection?

I just bought the boat through family and wasn't used much with them. I highly believe maintenance was poor due to the initial lower unit oil change i did was nasty. I personally have not taken off the drive yet. Just replaces a bunch if other engine components before getting excited and taking it out.

 

[Bondo]

Last summer I was out on the boat. Noticed a kind of ticking coming from rear end of boat. I heard the same if you spin the prop out of the water. I was taking it easy coming back to shore and I heard a bang then lost all thrust. When boat is in gear it wants to die. However neutral it runs. I drained lower to check for metal shavings but didn't notice anything too out of the normal. Any ideas what couldve broke?

Ayuh,...... Welcome Aboard,..... I've never seen a coupler blow, with a Bang,....... Grown, 'n grind maybe, or smoke to beat 'ell,.... But no bang,....

The u-joints, or upper gear set, I've seen go Bang,......
But,..... The stallin' in gear, Vs: runnin' Ok in neutral kinda says that's not the case, as the prop shaft is the only shaft that shifts,......
All the other shafts, 'n bits turn with the motor's crankshaft,....

Not sure what's goin' on, but pullin' the drive, 'n lookin' things over is still step #1,.....

 

[Hlumley07]

Ayuh,...... Welcome Aboard,..... I've never seen a coupler blow, with a Bang,....... Grown, 'n grind maybe, or smoke to beat 'ell,.... But no bang,....

The u-joints, or upper gear set, I've seen go Bang,......
But,..... The stallin' in gear, Vs: runnin' Ok in neutral kinda says that's not the case, as the prop shaft is the only shaft that shifts,......
All the other shafts, 'n bits turn with the motor's crankshaft,....

Not sure what's goin' on, but pullin' the drive, 'n lookin' things over is still step #1,.....

I appreciate the advice. I'll remove the drive and attach some pics of everything. Again thanks for the quick response and advice.

 

[hgxsilver]

It sounds like the shift cable is out of adjustment or the cable itself has some corrosion that is increasing the tension/compression on the shift interrupter assembly beyond its means therefore causing the stall.

 

[Hlumley07]

We found the problem gentlemen. Now is it worth rebuilding or to buy a new upper unit. My concern is it also got into lower so with that being said do I replace the whole drive

 

[Hlumley07]

Ayuh,...... Welcome Aboard,..... I've never seen a coupler blow, with a Bang,....... Grown, 'n grind maybe, or smoke to beat 'ell,.... But no bang,....

The u-joints, or upper gear set, I've seen go Bang,......
But,..... The stallin' in gear, Vs: runnin' Ok in neutral kinda says that's not the case, as the prop shaft is the only shaft that shifts,......
All the other shafts, 'n bits turn with the motor's crankshaft,....

Not sure what's goin' on, but pullin' the drive, 'n lookin' things over is still step

• We found the problem gentlemen. Now is it worth rebuilding or to buy a new upper unit. My concern is it also got into lower so with that being said do I replace the whole drive

 

[Bt Doctur]

That type of damage is caused by a lack of oil.When was the drive serviced last, when was the oil changed last?

 

[Hlumley07]

I got the boat off family early last summer. I immediately changed the oil took it out a couple times. When I pulled old oil it had some shavings in it also seemed low. I dont believe they ever changed fluid in it.

 

[Grub54891]

Yeah, replace the entire drive. Also, it's normal to have small dusty shavings, as long as they are sort of like dust on the magnet. After running a new drive through breaking it in, you will see a bit more that may scare you but it's normal.

 

[Hlumley07]

This is new to me. What is a typical break in process for the drive? I assume multiple oil flushes. I found a really good deal on brand new SEI drive with 3 year no fault warranty. Would you recommend that brand over spending all the money for mercruiser?

 

[Rick Stephens]

This is new to me. What is a typical break in process for the drive? I assume multiple oil flushes. I found a really good deal on brand new SEI drive with 3 year no fault warranty. Would you recommend that brand over spending all the money for mercruiser?

I bought an SEI once. They're fine and come with specific break in instructions. SEI is a chinesium copy of out of patent Merc drives.

 

[Hlumley07]

How do I figure out gear ratio

 

[nola mike]

S/N on the drive. If unreadable, we can probably guess correctly based on engine +/- other info (prop pitch, what boat it's on)

 

[Hlumley07]

Its on an 87 sunbird with a 165 hp 4 cylinder

 

[nola mike]

3.7L, assuming 17-20 ft bowrider would have been 1.84, but double check s/n if you can.

 

[Hlumley07]

3.7 18 ft bow rider yes. Ill try to see if sn is visible.

 

[Grub54891]

Sei should be fine. Mine is. It does come with break in instructions.

 

[achris]

Fill drive from the BOTTOM, UP... NEVER, ever from the top....

Chris..........