Drive problem

[backinwa]

New to outdrives. Recently bought 2000 Bayliner with 305 chevy and A-1 sterndrive. Boat was repo'd, looks brand new. I've used it apx 4 hours. After 1 hour started hearing whining and thumping from sterndrive. At 4th hour, moving steady at slow speed, I lost the drive. Towed to shore and began troubleshooting. No Fwd/Rev. With engine running, it will not shift into either gear (no thunking). Engine not running and shifting into either Fwd/Rev and prop feels as if it won't rotate CCW/CW but jiggling it a bit and it will, however can feel it turning against some gearing. Water pump works well. Drained oil and smells burned, plug had some shavings but no chunks. Finding the shavings, I was planning on putting complete new unit on, but reading posts find this may be normal?? Oil did look a bit milky. Due to shavings, I was planning on replacing now and rebuilding unit this winter but may not replace all if you don't think it necessary. Have not had time to tear into it yet. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Great site. Thanks for your help.

[Technical Support]

How much oil came out of it? If less than a quart then I would suspect the upper gears melted down. You can pull the top cover off and inspect them.

If that looks okay, then the problem may be in the lower unit. Seperate the upper from the lower. Remove the water pump. Now you should be able to rotate the the lower unit while shifting it to see if it turns smoothly. You will want to pull up on the driveshaft and rotate it clockwise.

If the lower has the problem, and the upper looks good, you can get away with just replacing the lower, although it would be wise to get the upper pressure tested to make sure there won't be any oil leaks.

Tech Support

[backinwa]

The oil was full, it has a monitor on the system, and came out at a high flow rate but certainly smelled burned. I'll pull the top cover anyway to be sure and then I'll separate the units soon and see what I find. Thanks for the info, I'll write again for advice when I know more ie. which unit, gasket kit etc. Thanks

[backinwa]

Okay, took lower unit off and found the primary problem. The drive shaft is twisted into two pieces right after the water pump. Now my questions, what could have caused the torque required to twist a 3/4" steel shaft in two, and what other problems can you foresee in the rest of my lower unit. Would you replace the entire unit or perhaps just the shaft. As I said before, the unit looks brand new and the upper gears have 0 wear on them. Let me know what you think and I'll get the parts ordered. Once again thanks for the help.

[Technical Support]

A shaft twisting or breaking is generally caused from hitting something. It can also be from the boat coming out of the water and landing again without pulling back on the throttle.

If it did hit something then you are best off replacing the whole drive now. In my experience if you just change the lower, the upper gearset may fail shortly after. Imagine the torque it took to snap the shaft, the upper gears felt that same force.

You could reuse the upper and hope for the best. It may hold up for you.

Tech Support

[backinwa]

I'm getting the replacement parts ordered. Just wondering, if the unit does NOT pressure check okay, what seals need to be replaced. I may order those at the same time just in case. I'm sure I'll need them sometime anyway. Thanks Brent

[Technical Support]

We don't sell the seals individually, just in a kit.

http://www.sterndrive.cc/Merchant2/m...ory_Code=116SE

As you can see there is not much to it, although they can be tricky to change if you haven't done it before.

Tech Support

[Rockfish71]

Hello, If I where you I would scap the old upper and lower and buy a complete new upper and lower and be done believe me you will spend just about as much and still have an old worn out drive. save yourself the time and all the headaches sell your old parts on e-bay to someone that loves headaches. :)