Object? found in bell housing exhaust port

[stujr]

Alpha one gen 2 (2004)
Removed Stern drive and found an object wedged behind the shift shaft. What is it? Should I remove it?
I didn't see it called out on the exploded view of the bell housing in Service manual #14
Thank you,
Stuart

 

[Fun Times]

One name for it would be exhaust flapper as there are a few names for them, which is about the same as you will see in the following thread linked,

Extra parts? Where do they go?

I'm in the process of replacing the water pump on my 2007 Alpha 1 Gen2 (which I have done before). When I pulled the lower unit off, 2 of these plates fell to the ground. I don't recall seeing them before & I cant figure out where they go & what they are for. I've looked at the parts views in...

forums.iboats.com

 

[stujr]

Thanks for the quick reply.
Pulled it out and had part number on back. 807166 =water shutter

 

[frostystorm]

Cool, now you need to replace it. It's a pretty important part. When there is no exhaust coming out of the engine that flapper shuts the exhaust tube and prevents a swell or wave from pushing water up into the engine.

Run without it, get stranded, replace at the very least the head of your engine at $800 in parts alone. If you have a 3.0L 4 cylinder, they aren't terrible to replace, once you get into the V8s though, real PITA.