Alpha 1 Gen 2 - Bad Day At The Lake

NCCamper

NCCamper

Member
Jan 20, 2009
154
Charlotte, NC
Boat Info
1992 200 BR
2013 Ford F-150
Engines
5.0 LX w/Alpha 1 - G2
Friends,
Took our boat for the first time this year, and it turned out to be a bad day. Started it at home on the muffs with no issues. When I launched it, my wife started it up, and it sounded a little noisier than normal, but nothing too serious, or so I thought. The wife pulled out from the dock while I parked. After parking the truck, went to get in the boat at the courtesy dock. The noise had increased and she was having trouble getting into forward and reverse, due to gear grinding. Normally a firm push does it. I also noted 2 distinct oil slicks, short but distinct, behind the boat. We immediately shut down and tied up to the dock. I was able to retrieve the boat without further issues. I am not unfamiliar with the boats' systems, but wanted to ask the group here:

1) What may be the cause of this? Seals failed?
2) Anyone from the Charlotte, NC area recommend a good mechanic?

Boat:
1992 Sea Ray BR200
5.0L Carbed
Alpha 1, Gen 2 Drive

I will also add that I inspected the bilge area, and there was no sign of water, no evidence of gear lube there. Visual inspection of the drive housing showed nothing out of the ordinary.

The Sea Ray has served us well since 2009 - we are the 2nd owners. We generally put less than 20 hours per year on it.

Thanks!
John
 
Last edited:
NCCamper said:
Friends,
Took our boat for the first time this year, and it turned out to be a bad day. Started it at home on the muffs with no issues. When I launched it, my wife started it up, and it sounded a little noisier than normal, but nothing too serious, or so I thought. The wife pulled out from the dock while I parked. After parking the truck, went to get in the boat at the courtesy dock. The noise had increased and she was having trouble getting into forward and reverse, due to gear grinding. Normally a firm push does it. I also noted 2 distinct oil slicks, short but distinct, behind the boat. We immediately shut down and tied up to the dock. I was able to retrieve the boat without further issues. I am not unfamiliar with the boats' systems, but wanted to ask the group here:

1) What may be the cause of this? Seals failed?
2) Anyone from the Charlotte, NC area recommend a good mechanic?

Boat:
1992 Sea Ray BR200
5.0L Carbed
Alpha 1, Gen 2 Drive

I will also add that I inspected the bilge area, and there was no sign of water, no evidence of gear lube there. Visual inspection of the drive housing showed nothing out of the ordinary.

The Sea Ray has served us well since 2009 - we are the 2nd owners. We generally put less than 20 hours per year on it.

Thanks!
John
Click to expand...

sure sounds like some kind of failed seal. I would drain the gear lube and get a look first to see if you have water intrusion or or metal shavings coming out.

Can you rotate the prop by hand normally in neutral?

Can you shift into forward and reverse without the engine running ans get the dogs to lock properly (prop will ratchet in opposite direction when turned by hand)

was the engine running normally, and did you notice the temperature rising? If it was going up That would indicate a failure between the upper and lower causing the impeller not to spin.

chances are you’ll want to pop the drive off and get a good look and likely split the drive halves.
 
Ryan,
Thanks for the suggestions. I was able to rotate the prop normally while it was in nuetral, but did not test sifting into forward or reverse. Engine was running normally, and no signs of overheating, though it was running for only about 10 minutes in the water. I did have it running about 30 minutes on the muffs earlier. I haven't yet, but can remove the drain plug and inspect what comes out. Hopefully no metal shavings or water.

Thanks,
John
 
Are you postitive there's gear lube in the drive?

You said "no evidence of gear lube in the bilge"... in '92, there wouldn't have been a stock gear lube reservoir. Was that added? If not, there is no way that gear lube WOULD be in the bilge.
 
Hi Dennis,
No I am not positive about that. It was not added, so I will need to drain the gear lube from the bottom of the drive. Not able to do that currently. Will try to do so tonight.

Thanks,
John
 
Let's hope it's something simpler - or if it is that, that no damage was done. The reason I asked that is that it's common to change engine oil and gear lube when winterizing. It's "possible" that the gear lube was drained, but never put back in. Although, it's easier to forget to put engine oil in than it is gear lube.
 
Took our boat for the first time this year, and it turned out to be a bad day

Prior to this what service was performed over the winter, and did you check the drive oil prior to running for the first time.
 
The only service done this past fall to winterize was to drain the colling system and add antifreeze. The boat was used very rarely in 2020, so I did not get the oil or gear lube changed. I did check the engine oil yesterday, both before and after the incident, and it looked to be in good condition. That is, the level was fine, and it was relaively clean and not milky. Did not check the gear lube in the drive prior to launching.

Thanks,
John
 
It's still good to check the gear oil (and, really, this should be changed once a year, too). But unless there was a puddle of oil under the drive, it doesn't magically disappear and if no-one opened the system up, it should still be there.

The "oil" slick could very well just be exhaust gasses - normal.

Check gear oil to be sure.

As noted, check prop spin in neutral. Should feel/hear no clicking.

Check prop spin in both fwd and rev. In this case, one direction should yield a clicking - the clicking should be the same when compare fwd to rev.

It could just be you need a shift cable adjustment - could be needing a new shift cable... could be something wrong in the gearing. Too hard to tell from where I am ;)
 
Update:
Tested rotating the prop while in forward and reverse. It behaved exactly as described above, locked in one direction, ratcheted when turning the opposite direction. I was not able to drain the gear lube. I could not remove the plug. More to come when I am able to remove the plug.

Thanks,
John
 
Bigger screwdriver, pliers on the screwdriver for leverage and push VERY hard to keep the screwdriver in the slot. An impact screwdriver is a nice tool to have.

Was the ratcheting "equal" in both directions? This was/is the more important part.
 
Quick update: Issues have been resolved. Ended up needing complete bellows kit installed including the gimbal bearing, and new shift cables. I also had the trim limit sender replaced, since I could only raise the drive with the trailer button. The impeller was also changed and gear lube drained and replaced. Good news is that there was no damage to sterndrive.
 
Good deal - all of those items maintenance to some degree and will wear out and have to be replaced at some point.
 
I love it when folks provide an update/solution - thank you. Was it a combination of the two, or just one?
 
NCCamper said:
Quick update: Issues have been resolved. Ended up needing complete bellows kit installed including the gimbal bearing, and new shift cables. I also had the trim limit sender replaced, since I could only raise the drive with the trailer button. The impeller was also changed and gear lube drained and replaced. Good news is that there was no damage to sterndrive.
Click to expand...

Great. And it sounds like you did everything in the "While I'm There" category as well.
 
Mainly it was gimbal bearing and bellows failure. The other items were needed, but I have been working around them. For example, using the trailer switch to trim the drive, since the trim limit sender failed.

We have owned this Sea Ray since 2009, and it has been a great boat during this time. Very dependable, and low maintenance, maybe too much so. These were really deferred maintenance items which could have been addressed more frequently. Lesson learned!
 
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