Stringer OMC 400 - Drive Stuck in Down Position

[Mike2140]

Hello,

I have a 1979 Stringer 400 3.0 that's stuck in the "trimmed down" position. When I flip the switch to trim up, I can hear the sound of the motor spinning but the drive doesn't budge. How would I begin to troubleshoot this? Is there a manual release for moving the drive up?

Thanks,
-Mike

 

[cr2k]

Re: Stringer OMC 400 - Drive Stuck in Down Position

Is this the trim or the tilt? If the motor turns and doesn't move the drive you should be able to raise it by hand. (tilt)

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Stringer OMC 400 - Drive Stuck in Down Position

The snap ring that holds the clutch pack has popped out. Pull the cover off the clutch and inspect the ring. You will find that it is no longer flat but that the outer surface is bowed up higher than the inner surface. Turn the ring around and reinstall it, or install a new ring if you can find one. Put the cover on and go boating.

 

[natispotatis]

Re: Stringer OMC 400 - Drive Stuck in Down Position

Yeah, if your clutch pack IS loose, then you should be able to lift the drive manually (though it won't stay up). If you can't move the outdrive up or down then you have a different problem that could be one of several. The motor has a notch in it that connects to a "hammer coupler" that allows the motor to spin a little before it engages the gears to lift the drive. That could be your issue. The hammer coupler then links to a worm shaft which is just an extension of the tilt motor. The shaft holds a worm gear, which, when spinning, turns the clutch gear, which turns the tilt gear (can see this gear from outside--it hooks to the quarter moon gear on your outdrive. If your clutch pack (inside the square-ish box on the side of the outdrive) is bad, fix it (compress everything with metal tubing on the ends and a vice). Youtube has a video that shows the parts. If your clutch is fine (you can't manually lift the outdrive with relative ease), then pull the motor and pull the hammer coupler to see how that is (pictures are on some of these threads). If that is fine you probably sheared off the shear pins that hold the worm gear to the worm shaft. This happened to me but the shear pins lodged in the tilt gear. Search "omc tilt issue" or something like that to see some pics.

 

[NW Redneck]

Re: Stringer OMC 400 - Drive Stuck in Down Position

In order of easiest to check:

-Clutch pack snap ring. (as described above)
-Tilt motor shaft end broken. (Pull the tilt motor, not a fun job, end of shaft has a notch to engage the coupling)
-Hammer-blow coupling broken. (links the motor shaft to the worm gear shaft. 2 brass/bronze pieces with a spring in between)
-Worm gear shaft end broken. (Notched the same as the motor shaft)
-Pins on worm gear shaft broken (Need to pull the clutch pack to remove worm gear & shaft)

Check out my thread HERE: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=501126 for parts diagrams and other useful info.

 

[Mike2140]

Re: Stringer OMC 400 - Drive Stuck in Down Position

Thanks guys, that's some great info. The problem I'm dealing with now is that I can't even get the boat on the trailer without scraping the drive on the ramp. Is there a way that I can manually raise the drive? I need to find a way to do that with the boat still in the water.

 

[Boats-A-lots]

Re: Stringer OMC 400 - Drive Stuck in Down Position

Im not sure why, but mine (omc Cobra) did this last time we took it out. I got online and looked up why and somewhere in I read this happened to some one and they started the boat, put it in gear, then nurture a couple of times and then it would raise.. It truly worked for me.. but I still there there is an underline problem.. but I got the boat on the trailer and home.

 

[NW Redneck]

Re: Stringer OMC 400 - Drive Stuck in Down Position

If you can get the boat to shallow water you can stand behind the boat and remove the tilt quadrant (3 bolts) and lift it by hand and tie it up. At least then you can trailer it and get it somewhere you can work on it.