On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... :(((( Help

[FluffyChicken]

I was on my way back to the dock today and the motor had been running at about 4500rpms for about an hour straight. The oil gauge was fine and the temp was ok as well.. We were doing about 35mph when all of a sudden we heard a loud pitched squeeling so i pulled the throttle to idle and the engine turned off by itself. I let it sit for a minute and the starter turned but it was making a very odd sound. Not the normal sound it makes. Then it would cut in and out and make the normal sound then it kicked over. I was able to make it back to the dock with no more odd sounds but it felt as though there was some extra pressure applied to the motor. It would run fairly smooth and then hisitate for a second and jump right back up to normal. Very odd. It sounded like a bearing went out?????

I have a 1986 Mercruiser 170 with power steering and an Alpha 1 outdrive.
I recently changed the plugs and oil and outdrive oil.
The motor oil is GTX 20w 50 and the outdrive is Valvoline 85w 140.
Just a thought could a bad bearing in the power steering pump put stress on the motor and squeel? The reason im asking is because the squeel wasnt very muffled it sounded kind of close. And im guessing if it was a motor or outdrive bearing it would be squeeling like crazy and be hard to start.

Thanks
Ken

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

To start with I'd pull the belts and check the pumps, and alt for bearings.

 

[WizeOne]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

Had that happen to me once. Horrific squeal at plane, motor stalled, boat settled in, I thought for sure the motor seized. Once settled, I hit the key and the motor purred like a kitten. Turns out it was the upper outdrive gears ran out of lube and locked up the whole program.

Needless, had to get towed in.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

were the gears messed up or were you able to get them moving and fill it with some oil and you were good to go?

 

[Maclin]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

You might pull the spark plugs and spin it and see if any water comes out. Also check the oil condition and level.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

Bump

Wizeone was it needing repair or did you fill it with oil and get her working again?

 

[imported_TheMan]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

If you've run the outdrive without oil till it locks up you are probably not going to have a good chance of it working again simply by adding oil.

Since you say you were able to return to the dock, I assume that this was not your problem. Just to be sure, when you refilled your outdrive, did you do it from the bottom? Notice any leaks? Maybe check the top and make sure it is full.

If the power steering goes bad it shouldn't really affect the engine performance. The amount of power from the engine shouldn't be affected much by a pulley on the power steering or alternator. The belt might get torn up though and squeel. If your squeel went away and you don't notice any performance issues, I don't suspect a bearing. Bearings don't magically cure themselves.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

We started it back up and it ran fine today except for its power surging a lot. The squeeling started again and we opened the dog house door and it sounds/appears to be the power steering. We then pulled the belt off later today and its hard to turn the pully and its making a clicking sound. So im guessing the bearing in that are bad. Would that cause the power surging im talking about? Its very slight. 200rpms max. My max rpms were 5000 before and now i cant get the boat past about 4800. I'm going to make a different post about power surging because i noticed that weird coil choke housing was loose as well. Thanks
Ken

 

[WizeOne]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

Bump

Wizeone was it needing repair or did you fill it with oil and get her working again?

It was toast ncp, but it was also an OMC 800 with seperate upper and lower gear cases.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

the fact that it ran today for an hour straight with only rpm loss tells me its probably not a motor bearing or a problem with the outdrive correct?

 

[Windykid]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

Your Power steering pump is causing the power surge. Once you replace it, you should see a difference.

 

[imported_TheMan]

Re: On the water today heard a loud squeel and the motor turned off.... ((( Help

Just run it without the power steering and see if you have any RPM shifts..

If you do, well then thats not your problem.. and if you don't.. I'm sure you know the rest.