Re: SX-M drive stuck - suggestions
That's what I was thinking. Your best shot would probably be an impact driver if you can fit a socket in there. I think breaking the corrosion free one by one is going to be a lot easier than trying to dead-pull against all 6.
Be careful though, you could end up shearing off the bolt if you put too much torque on it with a wrench or something.
This corrosion is nasty stuff. I finished disassembling my aluminum 270 outdrive last month after an epic 4 day battle with one of the pieces suffering from this condition.
Thanks Nickypoo, I might try breaking the studs free just a bit and see if that helps- I'll be careful not to over-torque......
Brother, I must ask if you've tried to shoot any thing in the Gimbal? What about turning the motor via the starter 90 degrees and try and then 180? I ask these as it sounds like all efforts are based on your drive being stuck due to corrosion between the studs and the drive housing. There have been many a drive stuck due to a drive shaft stuck in the gimbal bearing due to rust or the coupler due to rust or gross misalignment. If you can double nut and spin the studs and the drive is still stuck then...you know where I'm going with this..Good Luck..
Thanks Senior B. No, I haven't tried spraying breakfree into the gimbal - I wanted to avoid cutting the bellows if at all possible. I suppose I can try to reach it from inside the boat? Haven't looked to see if that's possible. In looking at everything, there is a LOT of corrosion on the studs and since the gimbal was previously not giving me any signs or symptoms of having issues, I kept focus on the studs. Regarding the coupler, I haven't focused on that yet because I've read that a symptom of a rusted or seized coupler is that the drive will start to come out a bit and then be pulled back in - well, I can't even get the drive to move at all. I know that that doesn't mean in itself that its NOT the coupler, but I figured since I don't have a clue what to do if it IS the coupler, I'd focus on the studs in the meantime. The boat never sounded or ran like it was out of alignment, but I suppose its possible. I did try turning it over a couple of times as well - didn't seem to help.
I've gone out a couple of times this week and sprayed more PB blaster - the studs are clean now as a result so hopefully some of that stuff crept its way down the threads and inside the housing to clear up the corrosion. Its raining here today and tomorrow but hopefully it will clear enough at some point to try spraying the gimbal and letting it soak, trying the wood block trick with the rams to try to push it off, trying to heat the surrounding aluminum around the studs, trying to turn the studs and then if all else fails, try the hoist eye / ratchet strap / pull-the-sucker-off with a come-along.
If that doesn't work I'm going to put the darn thing back together and keep driving it this summer. I've changed the engine oil, lower gear unit oil, lubed the gimbal, checked all the other components (steering, trim, etc) and all is well. Its not time for an impeller just yet.....
Thanks all for the help! I'll post up my results tomorrow