Tweet
Hi,
I recently purchased a SE 116 from PPT (Oklahoma). The mechanic who installed it lake tested it and informed me that it was very noisy at low speed, and that he suspected that it may be shimmed incorrectly.
I also lake tested it running it in forward and reverse, and under a number of throttle settings including full power. The drive makes a loud gear noise in either forward or reverse (but not neutral) at low speeds. The gear noise seems less at 3/4 to full throttle, but this may also be due to louder engine noise.
A good friend of mine is a longtime merc mechanic and former Merc factory sponsored race boat owner. He also used to own a large boat dealership. He says that if the drive is noisy that it is likely making metal shavings which will circulate through the gear lube and lead to an early failure of the drive.
I love the fit and finish of the SE 116, and would love to see SEI be successful with this drive, but I'm worried about the unit I purchased.
If it were a used drive, I would probably have it disassembled, inspected, and re-shimmed, but since it is under warranty I cannot do that. I'm considering running the drive for 10 hours this next week, and then draining the lube oil to check for metal shavings.
How would you suggest that I proceed?
Don W.
I recently purchased a SE 116 from PPT (Oklahoma). The mechanic who installed it lake tested it and informed me that it was very noisy at low speed, and that he suspected that it may be shimmed incorrectly.
I also lake tested it running it in forward and reverse, and under a number of throttle settings including full power. The drive makes a loud gear noise in either forward or reverse (but not neutral) at low speeds. The gear noise seems less at 3/4 to full throttle, but this may also be due to louder engine noise.
A good friend of mine is a longtime merc mechanic and former Merc factory sponsored race boat owner. He also used to own a large boat dealership. He says that if the drive is noisy that it is likely making metal shavings which will circulate through the gear lube and lead to an early failure of the drive.
I love the fit and finish of the SE 116, and would love to see SEI be successful with this drive, but I'm worried about the unit I purchased.
If it were a used drive, I would probably have it disassembled, inspected, and re-shimmed, but since it is under warranty I cannot do that. I'm considering running the drive for 10 hours this next week, and then draining the lube oil to check for metal shavings.
How would you suggest that I proceed?
Don W.
Comment