I have a '77 OMC package. 302 engine, and the electric shift outdrive.
I took the boat out for a quick cruise recently and had a major failure. I pulled away from the dock without any indication of a problem. After a few minutes I turned up the RPM's to get up on plane. I was up for about 1 minute when the engine started sputtering and died. I tried to crank it back over, but the thing wouldn't move. I turned the key over and over. The starter constantly tried to exgage and turn the crank, but the engine was frozen. Later, when out of the water I tried using a torque wrench to turn the crank, and it wouldn't budge. It was completely stuck. I removed all the plugs to see if water had built up and locked the engine, but this did nothing. I remived the push rods to see if one was bent, or locked up, but they all looked clean. At that point i thought it might be a bearing, and figured I needed to replace the block, and call it a day.
What was troubling was the fact that the oil was new, the temp at the time was low, and there were was no obvious reason for this to happen.
I pulled the engine this weekend thinking I simply needed to replace the block. I pulled the engine, and the first thing i tried to do was turn the crank. To my suprise it turned immediately without any resistance, as free as ever. I've taken the heads off, etc, and it looks great. I had a engine rebuild shop take a look and they said everything looks fine. The only thing left is the outdrive, right?
I turned the prop on the outdrive and it spins cleanly. therefore, I can only conclude that something occured in the upper housing, or in the bell housing. Does anyone know these outdrives, and if a failure like this could be the result of an issue in the upper housing of the outsdrive? I'm lost at this point.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!
Joe
I took the boat out for a quick cruise recently and had a major failure. I pulled away from the dock without any indication of a problem. After a few minutes I turned up the RPM's to get up on plane. I was up for about 1 minute when the engine started sputtering and died. I tried to crank it back over, but the thing wouldn't move. I turned the key over and over. The starter constantly tried to exgage and turn the crank, but the engine was frozen. Later, when out of the water I tried using a torque wrench to turn the crank, and it wouldn't budge. It was completely stuck. I removed all the plugs to see if water had built up and locked the engine, but this did nothing. I remived the push rods to see if one was bent, or locked up, but they all looked clean. At that point i thought it might be a bearing, and figured I needed to replace the block, and call it a day.
What was troubling was the fact that the oil was new, the temp at the time was low, and there were was no obvious reason for this to happen.
I pulled the engine this weekend thinking I simply needed to replace the block. I pulled the engine, and the first thing i tried to do was turn the crank. To my suprise it turned immediately without any resistance, as free as ever. I've taken the heads off, etc, and it looks great. I had a engine rebuild shop take a look and they said everything looks fine. The only thing left is the outdrive, right?
I turned the prop on the outdrive and it spins cleanly. therefore, I can only conclude that something occured in the upper housing, or in the bell housing. Does anyone know these outdrives, and if a failure like this could be the result of an issue in the upper housing of the outsdrive? I'm lost at this point.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!
Joe