Gear slipping - Worn ball gear maybe?

[asbennett]

Hi - My 1982 OMC Stringer out drive - 2.5L 4 Cyl -started "acting" like it was slipping gears. This would happen at slow speeds when I would accelerate slow and smooth - sometimes there would be a "clunk" and it would feel like the boat was dropping into gear after the clunk. I have not changed the shift linkage or other componets since it was working last year. I noticed the ball gear is very worn (nearly half the ball teath are gone). Can this cause my clunk / shifting problem? or do I have more than one problem? Also - can someone explain how to replace this ball gear?

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Gear slipping - Worn ball gear maybe?

Although I cannot explain the clunk, I would suspect a slipping hub on your prop. The coupler between the flywheel and intermediate drive shaft is solid splined and I think an 82 has the larger bulletproof splines. I'm not sure how to change the ball gears. They have a little pressed on cover over a nut. It's easy to pull the intermediate ball gear/drive shaft to put it in a vice. I'm not sure how to get the OD gear off. Mine is 24 years old with no perceptible wear. Sounds like someone has been using the tilt as trim. A real no no on an OMC.

 

[kponhlo]

Re: Gear slipping - Worn ball gear maybe?

The cover (which my boat didn't have) I think is pried out. You have then exposed the ball gear nut and a 1/2 inch air impact is now a wonderful thing (for removal only). I used a 6-inch gear puller to carefully get the OD ball gear off. I dunno if this could be done with the outdrive on the boat, mine was already removed due to bearing issues.