Outdrive crapped out...

[onesNzeros]

So at the end of the last boating season, several of us took our boats on a pretty lengthy trip. On the return trip we were cruising at about 3k RPMs and I started hearing this whining noise over the stereo. By the time I got the stereo volume turned down to listen to the noise more closely, I lost all forward motion. I pulled the throttle back to neutral and the engine was was running fine. I put it back into forward and began hearing a clicking noise. I put it in reverse and it went backwards as if nothing was wrong... no clicking from the outdrive. I put the boat back in forward and clicking again but the prop was apparently spinning because the boat would go forward but only at a snails pace. I pulled the boat over to the beach so that I could inspect the outdrive and verified that the prop does indeed spin in forward gear. I decided to go ahead and replace the prop with my spare in hopes that it was just a spun prop, but unfortunately that wasn't the problem. I had a friend tow me to the nearest dock. What a way to end a boating season!

Knowing that I wasn't going to have any spare time to work on the boat any time soon, I winterized her and put her away for the winter. I'm going to get her out this weekend to try to troubleshoot this problem and wanted to check with you knowledgeable people for thoughts and suggestions before getting started. Help?

This is an Alpha One Gen 1 outdrive with a merc 5.0

 

[cecho]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

I'm no expert at all, but it sounds to me like one of the gears in the outdrive went out (Guessing the bottom since you have reverse). I doubt a shift cable would ever cause any wining. You should drain and check the gear oil. You'll probably see metal flakes in it. If your bottom end went out your top end will also go out (or vise-versa) in short order since they share oil. Your best bet is probably to replace it with a complete SE106. It's a new aftermarket drive that runs for $1300 shipped. It's going to be cheaper than getting your current one rebuilt.

 

[Don S]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

Drain the gear lube (Should be done during winterization to make sure there is no water in it) and see if there are metal particles in the oil and look at the magnet on the end of the drain plug for chunks.

 

[onesNzeros]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

Ok, drained the gear lube yesterday and there was no metal shavings on the plug or in the old lube other than a little glittering. The lube was a little milky which leads me to believe some water seeped in from a seal. I put some fresh lube in and now the outdrive seems ok running on the muffs... no more clicking in forward gear. I was really expecting to see some metal shavings or chunks even. Think I'm going to put her in the water and keep it close to the dock to check things out. I know I need to replace the seals but not real sure what to think about the outdrive being ok after changing lube.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

Ok, drained the gear lube yesterday and there was no metal shavings on the plug or in the old lube other than a little glittering. The lube was a little milky which leads me to believe some water seeped in from a seal. I put some fresh lube in and now the outdrive seems ok running on the muffs... no more clicking in forward gear. I was really expecting to see some metal shavings or chunks even. Think I'm going to put her in the water and keep it close to the dock to check things out. I know I need to replace the seals but not real sure what to think about the outdrive being ok after changing lube.

Ayuh,.... Pull the outdrive, 'n inspect the input shaft, 'n coupler....

Ya oughta be doin' that annually anyways to grease things up....

 

[onesNzeros]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

Ok, so it wasn't knocking while on the muffs, but when I dropped her in the water and put her in forward, the knocking noise came back but still doesn't do it in reverse. I'll pull the outdrive next weekend.

 

[onesNzeros]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

I pulled the outdrive. The input shaft looks fine. I attached some pictures of the teeth where the input shaft goes. Do these teeth look worn to you? The input shaft doesn't show any signs of it slipping inside there and it's hard to see in there to tell for sure. Also, I would think that if this is the source of the knocking, then I would be able to hear the knocking with inside the boat when I lift the engine compartment, and I can't. Thoughts?

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx2Iph7ah1uVZk9LMmdLaUdJVFk/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx2Iph7ah1uVdUtEeXZGck1wR1E/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Don S]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

I pulled the outdrive. The input shaft looks fine. I attached some pictures of the teeth where the input shaft goes. Do these teeth look worn to you? The input shaft doesn't show any signs of it slipping inside there and it's hard to see in there to tell for sure. Also, I would think that if this is the source of the knocking, then I would be able to hear the knocking with inside the boat when I lift the engine compartment, and I can't. Thoughts?

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx2Iph7ah1uVZk9LMmdLaUdJVFk/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx2Iph7ah1uVdUtEeXZGck1wR1E/edit?usp=sharing

Can't see enough of the splines to tell if they are there or not. Even if the come up to a point, the drive would still go.

How do you know your spare prop was any good?

The coupler could still be bad if the rubber is dead around the splines.

 

[onesNzeros]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

I had used the spare prop the day before. It is a 19p and put a 23p prop on during the trip. The 19p prop was fine before I swapped it. My splines look fine.

 

[onesNzeros]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

I was able to get a better light on those teeth and I think they look fine.

 

[Don S]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

The splines in the coupler may look fine, but what about the rubber part of the coupler?

A spun coupler will act just like a spun prop.

 

[onesNzeros]

Re: Outdrive crapped out...

There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the coupler from what I can see.