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I have a new-to-me SEI 106 outdrive on a 1988 Sea Ray 250 MR1/Alpha 1. Previous owner said the outdrive was only used one season (Long Island Sound) and then the boat was hauled for winter storage. I didn't believe him at first because the lower unit was barnacle encrusted and the paint looked like it was 20 years old....chipping in huge pieces. Lots of corrosion on the aluminum shell as well.
Previous oner told me he was having problems shifting in to reverse (boat would stall so he replaced interruptor with no change to issue). I assumed it was a bad lower shift cable as the upper one, when disconnected from shift plate, moved freely. I could not budge the lower shift cable for nothing and the shift cable bellows looked damaged.
I was able to manually shift the outdrive in to Forward (it was in Neutral) with an open end wrench on the brass shift foot (I had to trim up the drive to get to it). It moved slowly, but the drive finally shifted in to Forward. Shift foot was facing forward, prop locked in one direction and ratcheted in the other. I then spent the better part of the aftrnoon trying to muscle off the outdrive, cursing the previous owner for not maintaining it properly and lying about the age. Turns out, he wasn't lying. Input shaft and u-joints were brand spanking new. It was the paint that had failed in one season and contributed to all the corrosion. Even the factory paint on the collar that slides in to the gimbal housing was shiny-new but chipping off in huge pieces.
Worse yet, as soon as the drive was off, the lower shift cable operated smoothly. I'm going to replace it anyway, but going from a 'frozen' state to an 'operating' state just by removing the drive makes me wonder if its not an issue with the outdrive instead of the cable.
So with the outdrive on a stand, how hard should it be for me to manipulate the bronze shift foot? Should I be able to manualy shift the outdrive (FWD, N, REV) just using my fingers and turning the prop or do I need a wrench/screwdriver to use as leverage? I'm trying to figure out if the shift shaft is binding somehow or if this is normal for the outdrive.
Previous oner told me he was having problems shifting in to reverse (boat would stall so he replaced interruptor with no change to issue). I assumed it was a bad lower shift cable as the upper one, when disconnected from shift plate, moved freely. I could not budge the lower shift cable for nothing and the shift cable bellows looked damaged.
I was able to manually shift the outdrive in to Forward (it was in Neutral) with an open end wrench on the brass shift foot (I had to trim up the drive to get to it). It moved slowly, but the drive finally shifted in to Forward. Shift foot was facing forward, prop locked in one direction and ratcheted in the other. I then spent the better part of the aftrnoon trying to muscle off the outdrive, cursing the previous owner for not maintaining it properly and lying about the age. Turns out, he wasn't lying. Input shaft and u-joints were brand spanking new. It was the paint that had failed in one season and contributed to all the corrosion. Even the factory paint on the collar that slides in to the gimbal housing was shiny-new but chipping off in huge pieces.
Worse yet, as soon as the drive was off, the lower shift cable operated smoothly. I'm going to replace it anyway, but going from a 'frozen' state to an 'operating' state just by removing the drive makes me wonder if its not an issue with the outdrive instead of the cable.
So with the outdrive on a stand, how hard should it be for me to manipulate the bronze shift foot? Should I be able to manualy shift the outdrive (FWD, N, REV) just using my fingers and turning the prop or do I need a wrench/screwdriver to use as leverage? I'm trying to figure out if the shift shaft is binding somehow or if this is normal for the outdrive.
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