Help Pulling Volvo 290 Outdrive

[unadog]

Hello folks,

I have read many of the threads here, so I know the basics. But we are having some real trouble pulling the outdrives on my boat!

I just bought a 1986 32' Bayliner 3250 this spring, with Twin Volvo 260A and twin Volvo 290 outdrives.

I just had a mechanic at my marina do a steering repair on the starboard outdrive. Now this is a professional mechanic - he said it took him **9 hours** to pull the outdrive, and that he broke his tools, maybe more than once, doing it!

I need to have the port outdrive serviced too. I don't want to have to pay him for 9 hours of his labor to pull the drive! I'd rather try to pull it myself, have it off for servicing, and then either have him servie it or service it myself.

ANY tips/hints/ideas of how to prep the outdrive - with penetrating fluids, cutting fluids, etc. - to make this thing easier to get off?

I actually have arthritis & neck & back pain, so I will have a neighbor kid help me, but at minimum wage instead of $90 an hour. Otherwise I will just have to pay the mechanic about $1,600 to pull it and install $200 worth of parts!

I also need to paint both outdrives before we launch. I am planning on sanding down to metal, two coats of primer, with sanding, from a spray can, then two coats of outdrive/aluminum paint from a spray can, maybe a clear coat topper. Should I use an HVLP instead? Looks like 1 spray can is supposed to do 2 coats on one drive, so only two cans of each needed.

Thanks for the help! I have been reading all I can, but I haven't seen most folks having this much trouble pulling an outdrive! Luckily the engines are great, everything else on the boat is fixed up, and I got it at a very good price!

Cheers!
Michael

 

[Don S]

Re: Help Pulling Volvo 290 Outdrive

Why are you wanting to pull the whole drive?

I just had a mechanic at my marina do a steering repair on the starboard outdrive. Now this is a professional mechanic - he said it took him **9 hours** to pull the outdrive

was that just the outdrive, or to pull the steering fork in order to replace the bushings? Is or was this a salt water boat?

Yes, with corrosion, you my be lucky he got it fixed in that amount of time. I have had some where the engine had to be pulled in order to remove the transom shield to get it all apart.

 

[unadog]

Re: Help Pulling Volvo 290 Outdrive

Thanks Don!

It is a freshwater boat. But it was a repo when I bought it, so it had some deferred maintenance. It had not been taken care of recently.

The mechanic did a great job! The steering yoke and arm would have cost $1,300 new from Volvo. He redid the splines to use the existing parts, and shaved the cost from $3,200 down to $1,600.

Luckily the engines are solid and everything else on the boat looks good. I will get the college kid next door to help me redo the teak, paint the outdrives, switch to LED lights in the cabin, put in new curtains, clean the carpets, etc.

The port outdrive does not shift correctly into reverse. That is the last mechanical TBD before the summer, along with replacing the bellows, etc. on that drive.

I guess I will go up and see how far I can get pulling the outdrive, see if I can save $1,000 of the $1,600. I am unemployed, but I wanted my 12 year old to have some adventures this summer. We are going to cruise the North Channel on Lake Huron a few times. Our cottage is just 3 miles from the Detour Passage around Drummond Island and the start of the North Channel!

I am selling off my photography equipment to pay for the boat, gas, etc. Only way to keep my wife off of my case! May never have the whole summer off again with the kid.

Cheers! Thanks again.

Best,
Michael

 

[Don S]

Re: Help Pulling Volvo 290 Outdrive

Before you pull the drive, have you checked the gear lube? Are you sure the problem with the shifting is not the cable? or the adjustment?
Even if it was the outdrives fault, you only would need to pull the upper gear box, not the whole outdrive. The shifting is done in the upper.
Might want to visit the Adults Only sticky at the top of the forum also, have a look at the Volvo information section.

 

[idlyfa]

Re: Help Pulling Volvo 290 Outdrive

I can't pull my Volvo off either. I am to the point of putting the bolts, and pistons back on it, and dealing with the outdrive when it won't go anymore.

 

[Don S]

Re: Help Pulling Volvo 290 Outdrive

idlyfa read this thread.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=468286

 

[unadog]

Re: Help Pulling Volvo 290 Outdrive

Thanks Don.

My mechanic has said the drive needs to be pulled for the repair. I don't always catch all of the details as well when he calls on my cell phone - I do better with written details! We were talking through details of 5 differnt small projects. I can check my scribbles and try to re-interpret.

He estimated the repair at $1,600, based on the time/cost to pull the other outdrive. Only $200 of that is parts, the rest is his time. I am hoping to try to do the unskilled/brute force type stuff, like pulling the drive or painting the outdrives, and leave the more skilled work for him.

If I can get the repair down to $600, that is like "earning" $1,000 for me right now, as I am not working. Cheers!

 

[unadog]

Re: Help Pulling Volvo 290 Outdrive

No cool tools or mechanical ideas, like the gimbal tools? Special mechanical principles?

Can I drill out any hard to remove screws, etc?

Risks where I might screw up if it is hard to pull?

Idylfa, where are you meeting a barricade trying to get your drive off?

I just re-read the Workshop Manual for the 290. It will be about 10 days before I have a chance to go up and try to pull the beast. I do have a friend who is going to help now.

Thanks folks! I hate boats! And everything else in the world, too - I am getting old, and my memory doesn't work, and my brain doesn't work, and everything is too complicated!

Best,
M