What is this??

[Manipulator]

I have an OMC 800 series. When I tilt the drive up I can see these things. There are two of them and it looks like they mate together when the drive goes down. Mine look worn. What happens when they get worn or anymore worn? First, what is it and what does it do?<br /><br />

 

[CharlesW]

Re: What is this??

It's called a "ball gear" and it connects your motor to the outdrive.<br />They show a small amount of wear in normal use and I have been told that they are OK to use until they are abot 50% gone.<br />DON'T run your outdrive above idle in anything other than the down position. You will not only destroy the ball gears, you will probably destroy the intermediate housing.<br /><br />A good rule of thumb is to not run the outdrive in the up or even partially tilted position at all.<br />Just don't do it.<br />We ran the original ball gears for 19 years on a 1975 OMC and they still had very little wear on them.

 

[Manipulator]

Re: What is this??

Thank you for your reply. So this is like a drive shaft? I thought it had something to do with the steering. I put some marine grease on on both balls to see if that helps with wear. Anyway they are worn maybe 25%.

 

[CharlesW]

Re: What is this??

The grease probably won't do anything.<br />25% wear isn't enough to worry about, but you might want to keep an eye on them to be sure there isn't some problem causing excessive wear.<br /><br />When the outdrive is all the way down, there is very little wear. Running the outdrive in any other position will result in lots of wear and like I said, possible major problems.<br />Treat 'em right and I know for a fact they will last 19 years. Mine were probably worn less than 10% and the boat had seen a lot of use.

 

[Manipulator]

Re: What is this??

Thanks again. My boat is a 1983 and the gears are the originals. I'll keep an eye on them.