Lower unit shot or??

[twofourdee]

so heres my problem i was out yesterday just cruising along hitting some nice waves and my boat started to lose some power and all of asudden some thing started clunking it almost sounded like a rod so i stopped put it in nuetreal and tried to put it back in gear and it just made the clunking noise again so i tried again and then it wouldnt do anything no noise at all and would not engage into gear at all.. engine runs fine just will not engage into gear.. What could my problem be? btw its a 89 Four winns soundowner with the 4.3 omc motor

 

[donberry]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

I am just guessing here, but as it made such a loud clunking noise, it could (hopefully) be the u-joint. When they go bad on a car, is pretty much exactly what they sound like - a big clunking noise and then you don't go anywhere.
Going to have to pull the drive anyway, so hopefully that is what the problem will be. I say hopefully as it will be a whole lot cheaper then if the gears are gone.

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

Thanks donberry looks like ill have to do some looking around on how to pull it cause i havent a clue about lower units are they easy to work with or not especially for some one whos really never touched one before? and i absolutley hope its the u-joint rather then the gears!!!

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

Check the oil in the outdrive.

 

[RIDEPATE]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

Try pulling the drain-plug on the lower and see what the fluid looks like, you don't have to drain it, just take a quick-look. If it's silvery tinted, you've got drive problems, not a clear indicator but a start.

 

[donberry]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

are they easy to work with or not especially for some one whos really never touched one before?

I have never owned a boat before and my brother's were always outboard engines. I just bought the OEM service manual and it pretty much walks you thru the whole thing. Hardest part is handling it, but if you build the stand, it pretty much just slides right off and on.
Make sure you check your cables and everything else before you do pull it. Be a shame to pull it off and then find out you did not need to. The loud clunking leads me to believe u do, but you never know.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

you can pull the whole outdrive in oh about 20 minutes the first time..

Remove the 6 bolts holding the outdrive on.. Remove the rod for the tilt cylinders...
I like to reinstall the rod once I got the cylinders off.. It' gives me something to use as a handle..

One or two yanks and off it comes.. Gravy train.. It's heavy BTW..

Going to bite the big one if you lost a u joint .. It banging away in there is a bad thing.. Sounds like if you went to neutral and it stopped.. It's not going to be a u joint issue.. Either way you need to pull the drive to see whats going on.. If the U joints are okay.. Drain the drive.. pull the lower next.. With a failure like you describe.. It will be noticeable.. Where ever it is.

Quick question.. Did you or someone else just recently change the drive oil?

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

ok thanks guys i think ill try and go check the oil today and let you know what it looks like 1st for starters and would a engine hoist work good for pulling the drive? and yeah joshua it was drained last fall the boats only been out 2 times this season..

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

Could also be a coupler although you would normally hear that in neutral as well. Your engine overheating in neutral now?

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

i didnt notice it over heating but also didnt run it to long after so i have no idea..

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

so i just got back from takeing a look at the unit.. I checked the lower unit oil and looked fine so i pulled the top off of the upper and there was not a drop of oil in it and the 2 gears looked completely shot!!! Is this going to be an easy/exspensive fix or am i pretty much S.O.L?? Thanks

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

Who filled the oil? Was it a shop?

Was it filled from the middle hole like the manual says?

By the way, the lower and upper share the same oil cavity. By checking the level with the dispstick on the top cover, you are checking for the whole unut.

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

i had a shop replace the motor about 2 years ago so i would assume they would have filled it.. i didnt even know that there was oil up there just in the lower seein i dont know much at all about i/o's so i dont see how it could of leaked out so my guess would be they probably forgot to fill it back up.?.?. would it have lasted a full season with a good amount of run time on it before the gears would of grinded down enough to fully give out?

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

dont know how i missed the rest of what you said but i did not know that and i guess this is all my fault then and will no longer be takeing my dads advice on stuff he has never owned :facepalm:

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

No. It would have failed immediately. Its possible they didn't fill it fully by filling it wrong but it is still your responsibility to check it. I check mine every time I take the boat out.

As far as what it will cost, it is going to be VERY expensive. Best bet would be to buy a rebuilt drive or a known good used drive or by the SEI drive with the adapter which basically converts it to a Mercruiser type drive

 

[donberry]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

I would highly recommend the OEM service manual no matter which route you take.

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

i had no idea there was a dipstick nor oil even up there.. and i know i know guess im just good at learning some stuff the hard/expensive way.. and so i take it you cant just pull the gears and replace them huh

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

whould a king cobra drive work on it?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

i had no idea there was a dipstick nor oil even up there.. and i know i know guess im just good at learning some stuff the hard/expensive way.. and so i take it you cant just pull the gears and replace them huh

The problem is that there are now metal pieces distributed throughout the drive.

 

[twofourdee]

Re: Lower unit shot or??

no way of cleaning them out?