Good Morning!
I have a boat that has an SEI upper on it after some issues last year that just wouldn't go away. Decided to cut my losses and (on the advice of people here and a marine mechanic) went with an SEI upper. I was doing maintenance on the boat this past weekend (boating season is almost done here in Michigan!) and popped the top cover off the drive to check inside. This is where I noticed a few things that the OEM Mercruiser did NOT have.....
1. On the top cover, near the rear, there was a gasket that was almost... glued to the cover around the part highlighted in the attached drawing. Do I need to scrape this off and then use some gasket maker to make a new one?
2. After reassembly (I wasn't worried about that gasket as I am not taking it to the water until this weekend), it seemed to whine a bit more than normal and when I touched the top cover, it was definitely getting quite warm to the touch. Would this be a sign that I (likely) tightened the cover a little too much or is it normal and I am just paranoid at the moment?
3. Unrelated - Since getting the drive, I finally was able to get through break in and try to open it up. When I did this, I could NOT push past 2800 RPM. I rebuilt the carb, replaced the water\fuel separator and changed out plugs. I haven't had it on the water since doing those items. I did seem to think, when looking at the gears, that they seemed like they might be a different ratio than what I had before. Could this account for my massive RPM @ WOT loss? This is just a little 3.0 inline 4.
Thanks again! The help, support, recommendations, and banter that I have seen here have been incredibly useful and helpful. And hey, I even have hardcopies of Service manuals 13 and 14 now!
I have a boat that has an SEI upper on it after some issues last year that just wouldn't go away. Decided to cut my losses and (on the advice of people here and a marine mechanic) went with an SEI upper. I was doing maintenance on the boat this past weekend (boating season is almost done here in Michigan!) and popped the top cover off the drive to check inside. This is where I noticed a few things that the OEM Mercruiser did NOT have.....
1. On the top cover, near the rear, there was a gasket that was almost... glued to the cover around the part highlighted in the attached drawing. Do I need to scrape this off and then use some gasket maker to make a new one?
2. After reassembly (I wasn't worried about that gasket as I am not taking it to the water until this weekend), it seemed to whine a bit more than normal and when I touched the top cover, it was definitely getting quite warm to the touch. Would this be a sign that I (likely) tightened the cover a little too much or is it normal and I am just paranoid at the moment?
3. Unrelated - Since getting the drive, I finally was able to get through break in and try to open it up. When I did this, I could NOT push past 2800 RPM. I rebuilt the carb, replaced the water\fuel separator and changed out plugs. I haven't had it on the water since doing those items. I did seem to think, when looking at the gears, that they seemed like they might be a different ratio than what I had before. Could this account for my massive RPM @ WOT loss? This is just a little 3.0 inline 4.
Thanks again! The help, support, recommendations, and banter that I have seen here have been incredibly useful and helpful. And hey, I even have hardcopies of Service manuals 13 and 14 now!
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