Stupidity Attack

[derekpfeiffer]

So here's the deal guy....I'm new to boating and today I went out and washed my boat and bought a pair of muffs hooked it up to the garden hose turned it on and started the boat....ran great....gassed it a couple of times and could tell there was a bad vibration...so I shut it down just as I realized I forgot to lower the drive!!!...needless to say I wasn't very happy. Now when it's running you can hear a little pop once in a while...even when it's idling. I'm guessing that it is the u joints in the drive. My question is that it's going in tomorrow to get new bellows put in and I was just wondering if there is any other possible damage??? or just probably the u joint? Wasn't sure if you could damage the drive or the engine doing this or not???

Thanks for any and all help

BTW I do know that was a no no

Thanks guys

Doogie

 

[derekpfeiffer]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Also are these things that i'm assuming they will be able to visually inspect to see what's damaged???

Doogie

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Well,

I used to have a 1966 Mark Twain with a 150 Mercruiser...dad bought it new.

He trolled with it almost all the way up. In Fact he would control his trolling speed by running it up and down. It had to be almost all the way up to get the speed he wanted. He always did it in idle.

It never hurt a thing. I had the boat from 1997 to 2005 when I sold it. I don't think the U-joints were ever replaced.

Now having said all that. You take a tremendous risk reving it up when the drive is all the way up.

I don't think I'd do it with my current Bravo III.


You need to remove the drive and have a look.


Cheers,


Rick

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Well its not good either way to run the motor with the drive fully up and then you said you gassed it WOW.

I just did that this weekend on my 07 merc but it only ran for 10 seconds in the lake at the ramp when I relised I didnt tilt the drive down so I shut it off.

I have no problems at all.
Depending on year and motor thet U joints were a little more forgiving Vs the New 07's +.

When I purchased my new 07 they told me the drive angle is a lot differant then they were years prior and the drive needs to be tilted and never to run it up. Ive doen this like 2 X now but the boat still runs fine so Im not worried. and when I have done this it was only at idal.

I would never really GAS it with the drive up. How long was the motor running with the drive up a few seconds your problably OK but minutes on end problably not a good way to do it and you are experiancing problems.

The u joints are like 20 bucks a piece and liked 80 to 100 bucks an hour to install unless you can do it your self. I cant.

My machanic just did all that on my cruser so I will make damn sure never to run it with the drive up

 

[derekpfeiffer]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Like I said I DO REALIZE you aren't supposed to do it and aren't asking if it were ok to do just wondering if they can see the damage visually when they take the drive off and if the only thing really to damage is the u joint itself or if there is other things I should be concerned about???

thanks

Doogie

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Stupidity Attack

You cant damage anything except the U joints and or the bellows.

If its extreamly bad maby they can see something but U joints cant be inspected unless they are pulled apart and checked wich means removal so why not put new ones in since they would have to go through all the BS to just check them.

I think you need to change them if theres a bad vibration, it could be the gimbal bearing but that can be checked easy enough once the drive is pulled.

 

[derekpfeiffer]

Re: Stupidity Attack

I might have them put in a whole new kit...which make me mad b/c they just put one in last summer...but oh well the price of "living and learning"

Thanks
Doogie

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Stupidity Attack

You cant damage anything except the U joints and or the bellows.

Actually....not true. But, you'd probably know it if you did. When the U-joints come apart they have been known to severely damage the gimbal.....enough to have to replace broken parts in the bell. Someone posted a picture of what happens some time ago.

Bottom line, DON'T DO IT. If you did it and you didn't break anything and something sounds bad, at the minimum pull the drive and replace the U-joints. Someone else will probably chime in here but I am thinking that the stresses on the upper housing and gear end of the yoke could tweak the bearings and support area of the upper case.

Mercruiser puts an upper limit on the trim for a reason.

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Yea I know about that

My machanic showed me a destroyed BELL and part of the drive....I didnt want to go there with that as to scare this guy since that didnt happend...


The rule is DONT DO IT !

 

[derekpfeiffer]

Re: Stupidity Attack

So when I lowered it and ran it some more gass it some and let it idle all i could hear was a slight poping occasionally what do you guys figure the chances are that there's more damage than just possible the gimble bearing and the u joint??? Now i'm getting nervous...just bought the boat and might have to put some big bucks into it b/c of my STUPID mistake...I guess one way to look at it is at least I learned my lesson the day before they were going to remove my drive anyway...it'd really sucked to have it happen right afterward.

Thanks for all the input guys

Doogie

 

[derekpfeiffer]

Re: Stupidity Attack

OH and for how long I ran it...maybe like 30 sec total...gassed it a lil twice in that time i think...not totally rapped up...just enough to hear that there was something wrong.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Stupidity Attack

You may be almost as lucky as the guy that caught his failed exhaust manifold before it ran salt water into a cyl! I think you should probably tell them what you did.



Pull the drive and at the bare minimum inspect/replace the U-joints. If in doubt replace the U-joints. Make sure you have them look the yoke and gear end over VERY closely .

Don't run it until you have seen inside.

 

[45Auto]

Re: Stupidity Attack

I have a neighbor down the street who runs his Alpha trimmed all the way up every time he comes in with his boat and flushes it. I went down there the first time I saw him doing it (when boat was new 3 years ago) and mentioned that it wasn't very good for the u-joints. He said that was the way the dealer told him to do it and has been running it with the drive all the way up for 3 years now. Saw him doing it yesterday afternoon, apparently it hasn't killed it yet.

If you're having everything changed anyway it won't hurt to change u-joints. But before you do you could take it out and see if you hear any noises when you turn full left or right. If you don't then the u-joints are probably OK, since you only ran it 30 seconds or so.

 

[cbavier]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Wow! Doogie sorry to hear about your leaning experience. Hopefully it won't be as bad as it sounds. Since you are having the outdrive pulled. Change the U Joints anyway you cannot visibly check them and be sure. Also like suggested tell the Mechanic what you did and have everything checked and if the impeller hasn't been changed. Change it while they are in there. You probably will also need an alignment but since they are in there have it all inspected.

Did you hear any popping when the engine was running in Neutral? What about in reverse? Have that checked.

 

[rndn]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Whether the outdrive is up or down you should never gas the engine while running on muffs. 1500rpm's is max unless it's in the water.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Considering how cheap new SEI's are now, I would see how much the repair bill is on a 20 year old drive is going to be vs. getting a new replacement.....
Just a thought.....​

 

[cbavier]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Considering how cheap new SEI's are now, I would see how much the repair bill is on a 20 year old drive is going to be vs. getting a new replacement.....
Just a thought.....​

I just saw yesterday someone post a new outdrive here at I Boats was $1195 -$2295 Heres the link. You can split the Lower Unit from the Power Head.


http://www.boatmotors.com/motorparts/

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Stupidity Attack

You can split the Lower Unit from the Power Head.

Now I'm confused....where is there a "Power Head" on an stern drive?

If you're thinking about replacing the outdrive have a look here for a replacement.

 

[derekpfeiffer]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Well sounds like good news....kindof he said that everything looked good and he would give it a real good look before he put it back together but when he pulled the drive off the boot was full of oil. Said the yoke and seal are out?? but said that it had nothing to do with the stupid mistake that i made. The total bill is going to be about 950 and that's with a new trim/sending unit, water pump, exhaust bellow, and yoke/seal all labor and parts...didn't think it was too bad??? But i had considered one of those SEI's if i ever had big problems w/ my drive but didn't know the quality...if they were even worth putting on or not?

I had asked him if he'd ran it before tearing off the drive but he'd said no. And I'd told him what was all going on....what i had done and the little bit of popping...so if there's still a problem when it's back together it's gonna get fixed on his dime!!! I hope this guy is as good as a friend of mine say's he is b/c i drove by 3 other marine shops on my 62mi trip taking my boat to this guy...but i'd sure think that this would be pretty basic for a boat mech.??

Thanks for all've your concerns and comments

Doogie

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Stupidity Attack

Sounds reasonable for bellows yoke & seal, pump, etc......​