Resealing Outdrive

[txarmydude]

Well, the boat is winterized and it is just going to sit until spring. But when I drained the outdrive oil, it was milky. So I guess there was some water in it. Well, since I need a project to keep me busy this winter, I thought I would see if I could reseal this thing myself.

So tell me, how hard could it be??? Could someone give me a list of the special tools I will need? Thanks!

 

[ziggy]

Re: Resealing Outdrive

So tell me, how hard could it be???

hard to say. depends on what your working on and what seals are spent and what else got damaged with the water intrusion... usually, a pressure test is a good start to finding what seal is leaking..

 

[txarmydude]

Re: Resealing Outdrive

Sorry, I should have been more specific. The drive is a pre-alpha #1 drive on a 260 Mercruiser. The drive is pretty old, and I suspect that all the seals should be replaced regardless. That was my intention for a winter project, to replace ALL the seals with one of the complete upper and lower seal kits.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Resealing Outdrive

i got me a '75 1 drive. i been replacing stuff on as need be basis. so far the drive gear ujoint yoke and ft seal, double brg. set and upper brg., driven gear shaft. . i pressure test often to be sure i'm sealed. not done it yet this year, but the time is getting close...

the issue imho is that when ya find gears or brgs that need to be replaced, then you generally need to reshim, which requires special mercruiser tools.

 

[achris]

Re: Resealing Outdrive

To do a complete reseal on both boxes you'll need the following special tools.

Spanner to remove the retainer at the front of the top box.
Tool to replace the lock ring for the bearing carrier in the lower. (Usually have to drill and break up the old one to get it out.)
Puller legs to remove the bearing carrier. (most of the time on a drive that old the carrier will break, so you'll probably need a new one of those.)
Shift shaft bushing tool.
Oxy set to heat the lower box so the bearing carrier can be removed.
Drive-shaft adapter to assist removing the pinion nut.

With all those tools and parts it will probably be cheaper to buy a new SEI drive....

JMHO....

Chris.........

 

[txarmydude]

Re: Resealing Outdrive

I have been giving some serious thought to just buying one of those brand new SEI drives for 1200 bucks and calling it a day. I could probably sell my drive for 500-600 on CraigsList and pay for part of it. I will have to give it some thought. It isn't the "spending money on the boat" part that bothers me... Its the "telling the wife about spending money on the boat" part that makes me nervous!!!!

I will definitely be ordering a Mercruiser manual, though...

 

[achris]

Re: Resealing Outdrive

...I will definitely be ordering a Mercruiser manual, though...

Don't do that.. Wait for a few hours until I am back on my own computer and I'll give you a link to download a PDF of the relevant manuals. I will need more details about the engine/drive.

Year of the engine and drive (NOT the boat), or the serial numbers... and what they are, eg Mercruiser 260, MC-1 drive (if you know what the drive it. And 'pre-alpha' is NOT a drive, it just means before 1986! That still leaves 3 options.)

Chris..........

 

[Don S]

Re: Resealing Outdrive

Here is a link to the OEM service manual for all 74 to 77 engines and drives. (Last time Merc put them both in the same manual).
http://www.4shared.com/document/3AHpVLYw/Service_Manual_02.html

NOTE: This is assuming the engine and drive are original and 77 or earlier, only serial numbers will tell for sure. The manual, even if the wrong one will give you an idea of what you have.