saltwater boat? Buy stethoscope and try to locate grinding before tearing everything apart on motor. At high RPMs motor noise will usually hide issues. Regardless, pull OD and inspect bearings and "slop," just to be sure and also start maintenance schedule. Log everything! At least that part will be completed. Be sure to use your hand to rotate G bearing and examine for any roughness. Buy a good manual. You will need it or a pocket full of $$$. MC are easy and relative inexpensive to work on but OBs provided less headaches but cost more in tools and maintenance expenses. Just my 2 cents...
Can you further explain your statement on this? What are you looking for by shining a flashlight on the coupler?
Ayuh,..... The tops of the splines should be 'bout 3/32" flat, not pointy,....
Thanks for clarifying. My engine is out right now and wondering if there is any benefit to pulling the cover off the coupler housing to inspect, or if the flashlight method is good enough. Or, if I should just replace the coupler while I'm here. The boat is a 1987 and I believe everything is original.
1987? You may also have rotten wood, lots of rotten wood. Rot may cause sagging metal and binding. Trust me! If motor is out, start pounding transom and stringer areas.
Pretty sure he's already past that stage...
forums.iboats.com
He said he hasn't drilled. He should while motor is out. Just my 2 cents...Pretty sure he's already past that stage...
1987 Power Play XLT-185 - floors, stringers, and upholstery
Well, here I am making my first post in a boat forum, and this post is in the resto/repair section, haha. Two weeks ago, my wife and I decided to start looking at boats with the hope of picking one up by next season. Naturally, I asked my brother (who is a boat guy) to be on the lookout for...
Are you talking about todhunter's boat? From post #25 on his thread: "Well boys, transom is rotten (though not nearly as bad as the stringers), as I probably should have expected. But...wet is wet. It's got to go."
You just read the first post in a thread with 14 pages, haha. Tip of the iceberg! As stated, I did drill, and the boat now has a brand new transom, stringers, and deck. I didn't mean to hijack the original poster's thread this bad - sorry about that. I'm nearly done with the structure restoration on my project and am trying to gather tidbits of info on the upcoming mechanical refresh on my build.
14 pages.... Damn, that War and Peace!
It's the toddler version though...mostly pictures.
