Outdrives done bad

Loyd Dinneen

Active Member
Jul 29, 2017
484
Las Vegas
Boat Info
1977 Sea ray 240 SDA cruiser w/ twin 470 mercs.
Engines
Twin 470 Mercruisers
I have a 1977 240 SDA Weekender that was previously owned by people who what ever they fixed it was all a s s backwards thus I come to the subject of the two pre alpha outdrives that is on this boat. The port outdrive I decided to install a new waterpump because I didn't like the water flow So I did that and then had trouble getting the lower in back in so with advice from my Merc Mechanic I removed the upper to make mounting the lower easier. Took off the upper and it had water in the u-joint bellows and the gimbel bearing was shot. The reason was they didn't replace the housing gasket with a new one and the center portion was broken and allowed water to go into the u-joint bellows, killing the gimbel bearing ,and making a mess of all the openings. Not only did they not replace a $5.00 gasket but also the o-ring for the water passage and the large square o-ring in the housing( thus all the water perhaps). So I installed new seals in the upper half(had already done the lower when I did the waterpump), new gimbel bearing and o-rings and fought it back on. Had a problem with trim lowering but that is air in the lines, and fixed the shift adjustment so it would go into gear. after all that comes the starboard side.
Couldn't get it to go into reverse and adjust properly and someone on another blog said that perhaps the washer on the shift was probaly left out. I drained the oil and it was full of water and this was after I had replaced the waterpump and seals on the lower half a few months back. This boat hasn't made it in the water yet only run on muffs. So I pulled the outdrive and found that They had siliconed what was left of the housing gasket to the housing ,very badly, and there was oilly grease in the u-joint bellows and exhaust stains in the waterpump area. The shift cable area was badly corroded with salt and in other areas. So I have ordered all the needed parts, seals and gaskets to rebuild this out drive. Oh also the washer and gasket was missing from the shift shaft thus the reason for no reverse. So tomorrow I tackle the bellows and get it ready to be replaced even though they look like new( just like the other side was). Have already pulled the gimbel bearing.
What have I all learned from this experience? First off not to buy anything from south of the border people ( trying not to be racist),he lied out his teeth about the condition of the boat. Next is get the boat surveyed no matter what it may cost ,it has cost me at least 800.00 in parts and labor so far and I am still not in the water and fishing. Thats not counting the man hours I have put into it. I have brought it back to its original look with what it came with in 1977. Looks great on the trailer(also rebuilt) in front of my house and making the neighbors upset over the Parking spaces I'm taking up LOL.
Well enough bellyaching thanks for looking and I hope someone has got a laugh out of this and perhaps a lesson learned, I sure have.
 
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I've felt your pain before. Thanks for sharing it with the others on the forum. Maybe you'll save someone else the troubles with the advice about the survey.
 
Well got the starboard outdrive done it seems that the shift shaft seal was leaking and my merc guy said water could get in that way even though I haven't put it in the water yet only muffs. But what I did do was take the waterpump off and it looked like there was oil all around the outside of it. I remembered that when we put it in the replaced o-ring was smaller in the round dia. than the original. Since I don't like throwing away old parts I went back to the kit and pulled out the old o-ring and reinstalled it. I then put the waterpump back in making sure to seat the base in very good and it seemed to go in solid and a little further. We then pressure tested the lower unit and it passed. So now I have to put the upper back on the lower(for the second time) and reinstall it back on the boat and refill it. I do have to check the shift cable bellows before installation real good since I thought I saw a pin hole when I was clamping the bellows in ( what a pain that was). And now I noticed oil leaking out of the lower portion of the port side outdrive(the one I just installed) so off comes the prop and I will see if I can spot where it is coming from. If it isn't anything to serious I will run it anyway and pull it every year and check it to see the condition of the oil. I know this a copout but I am honestly getting tired of working on the tail of this boat. I guess this is why I like outboards alot better since overall they are less trouble and easier to take care of, and if one totally breaks you just toss it and buy a new one. My small boat has a 60hp 4 stroke Yamaha and I am really impressed with it and how little fuel it burns even when it run it wot and get up to 30mph.(17.5 bayliner cutty cab). Good news is I think I am getting closer it's just the small crap now thats giving me trouble. I have run the port side made some cable and idle adjustments and it works and shifts well(except the leak).
 
Turned out to be a prop shaft seal, replaced it with a set of seals without pulling the carrier, have pressure tested the unit and it passed. Now on to another problem the engines running hot or it seems by the gauges. So far have flushed the starboard engine closed system,including the heat exchanger and reinstalled the 50/50 antifreeze. It still shows warm on the gauge but when shot with a temp gun and thermoter probe it shows 160 degrees in the reservior with engine block at about 165 and all other engine areas at about the same. Next thing I'm going to do is test the gauge by grounding and replace the senders on both engines. The glitch on all this is it is 106 degrees out side and impossiable to work in that heat in an open boat,the deck itself would burn you. Still 100 at night and still to hot. Has anyone out there run into this overheating issue where the gauges say it is but the engine say it isn't?
 
How much hotter is it showing on the gauge? I have a 160 thermostat in my boat but the temp shows around 170 on the gauge.
 
It is up to 3/4's on the gauge. Gauge only shows color up to the hot range and it goes red from there. Gets warm when in gear on the lake and getting to about 2500 to 3000 rpm didnt want to run it up any higher because of maybe hurting the engine. The port does the same but doesnt get closer to the high temp mark. Still think its the sender or the gauge reading wrong. Also had 160 thermos and just put new one in the stbd engine, tested the old thermo and opened at 160 just like the new one.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,861
Members
60,932
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top