"gear whine" from outdrive

[toyterrific]

97 SD240 with Alpha One outdrive (SE 116) had boat for year and a half. Couple weeks ago I start to hear what I can best describe as a gear whine from the outdrive. No such noise when rev in neutral. Thinking may be gear oil contamination or just low I change out, adding to reservoir next to motor as well. Old oil black and thin but not milky, so no water. That had no effect. Greased gimbal bearing zerk, still no change.
Outdrive was rebuilt just before I bought boat, company will honor 3 year warranty but parts only, no labor. Plus he can't get to it for 10 days then says he'll have to send any failed parts in, etc. Sounds like three week process.
Any suggestions as I have 20 people coming over this Friday and need to use boat?
Doesn't seem to affect performance. Thinking of running boat as is and hope no catastrophic failure.
Thanks for any input.:huh:

 

[mainstream]

I myself tend to not use the boat if I don't think it's mechanically sound I guess it would depend on whear and how I intended on using it. So long as no ones safety is in jeapordy if you do have a catastrophic failure I might use it but not use it hard like tubing or skiing. Just my .02

 

[CliffA]

i have the same engine and drive....my Alpha drive also has a gear 'whine' at higher rpm's.....it is not overly loud but you can definetly hear it when cruising....from what i am told this is normal for these drives....i had the same drive on a previous boat and it was the same way....

if this noise is new and you have not noticed it before it may be worth having a mechanic to look at it.....

cliff

 

[toyterrific]

Thanks for the reply Cliff.
The noise I'm hearing may better be described as a "whir" rather than a "whine".
I hear it much more at low rpm's. I suspect that the engine noise drowns it out as the rpm's increase.
Mainstream, I was thinking catastrophic failure would mean no prop spin and a tow in.
Definitely would not want to endanger passengers in any way.

 

[SCORPIO]

I have read that the SEI drives tend to have a whine associated with the gear sets. IIRC it has something to do with the way the gears are cut. Its not dangerous, just annoying. Maybe change to a heavier grade of gear lube would help, something like 85-140. I'd call SEI directly and ask them what they say about the noise and oil viscosity before I did anything else.

 

[toyterrific]

If I heard the noise upon first acquiring the boat last year, I probably wouldn't be concerned with it. "Whir" only surfaced a month ago.