1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

[kilapapipa]

We put the boat in the water and took off. After about 3 min. at 25mph, I lost the ability to put it in gear. The motor idles and the outdrive won't go into gear. When I checked the oil levels after getting it back on the trailer, the intermediate housing I call it, had no oil in it. When you put it in gear with the motor off, you can move the prop with some risistance but I believe not enough. When the motor is on and you try to put it in gear, you only rev the engine. What have I shelled???????

 

[kilapapipa]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

bump, any ideas out there before I take it to a stealer.

 

[studdy05]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Classic symptoms of the upper unit's drive shaft getting stripped.

Thats about a $100 shaft and you end up replacing two, and needing it reshimmed and couple of seals...not an easy or a cheap task but it happens quiet often.

 

[dubs283]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

with the boat out of the water amd the engine not running. put it in fwd gear. if you can turn the prop counter clockwise, you have a major issue. from the sounds of your first post, the upper drive gears set is destroyed due to a loss of gear lube. need to pull the drive, disasseble and inspect.

 

[studdy05]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

That's the other option, and if he meant he checked his oil in the Uppper - and none was there - and not his intermediate then yeah the gears are gonna be ground smooth...been there and done that the first time I changed a set out I stinking forgot to add my gearcase oil back...too busy worried about the shift cable settings probably...man what a tough lesson $$$$$$$

you might unscrew the bottom oil plug on that housing and if it has a magnet and you see large filings on it then its a hint gears are gone...

 

[kilapapipa]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

with the boat out of the water amd the engine not running. put it in fwd gear. if you can turn the prop counter clockwise, you have a major issue. from the sounds of your first post, the upper drive gears set is destroyed due to a loss of gear lube. need to pull the drive, disasseble and inspect.

You nailed it, with the boat off and in forward, I can move the prop either direction with little resistance, some but not much. The place where I lost oil from my research is the upper drive. I just thought it was the intermediate because there is one more oil resivoir closer to the motor not counting the tilt resivoir.

So can I pull the upper housing to inspect? Isn't this how the water pump gets changed on this drive? I was reading about this in the clymer's manual. I am competent with cars and my powerstroke but this outdrive is new to me. I would rather have troubles on the 5.0, LOL. We do have over 400hrs on it though.

Seems to me that I lost the gears and then the seal and oil. My lower unit is clear but I haven't looked for metal filings. When you say major, totally rebuilt drive or what. Sounds like since I have it apart, may as well do the bottom end also.

 

[studdy05]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Seloc goes into much more detal than Clymer and this site helps.

You end up having to disconnect your shift wires and getting those back right can be a bugger.

But once you get into the upper, you will see what is going on. And yes the lower will be accesible too.

You will need some special tools, an arbor press to get the bearings off and what have you.

It's a decent size job.

 

[studdy05]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

This is what your transverse gear will look like one way or another and there is a pinion gear below it - they drive the upper unit. (Of course I have a small bearing off the ends - what you will need to press off with an arbor press)

You can see what this gear looks like as soon as you pull the top cover off of the upper unit...the thing your dip stick goes down in to.

The gear on the left is the gear I ate up along with the pinion when I ran out of oil in my upper. The gear on the right cost me about 100 bucks and comes in pairs with another gear - the pinion gear - which is about another 100 or 150.

 

[kilapapipa]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Thanks, I have the SELOC manual also but unfortunately not the arbor press. I bought them both but luckily haven't had to use them in the 9 years I have owned the boat. Is it likely that I just have to get the upper unit or will the lower be shot also? I am tearing into it right now.

 

[studdy05]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Cant promise anything, but generally those lowers are much tougher and more durable than the uppers. It probably has not been hurt as it has its own lubrication seperate.

Check the splines on the uppers drives shafts real good while you are in there...that is another common source of failure...better to deal with it now.

 

[kilapapipa]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Where is the best place to disconnect the shift cable? It seems the bolts I took off on the top would allow the whole bottom end to come off if it wasn't for that cable.

 

[studdy05]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

you have to disconnect the cable inside the boat going through a whole routiene thats pretty tricky to do right...use that link I sent you and study up on it some...but the shift housing inside the boat on top of the engine has to be disassembled....then the cable comes out of it and through the intermediate housing...

 

[kilapapipa]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

OK, thanks a bunch.

 

[kilapapipa]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

I can see how everything goes together now. One more question, if I bought a replacement stern drive, can it just be an 800 off a v-8 like mine or does it get more specific like 5.0 and 5.7 or Ford motor vs. Chevy? Seems from my research that they all pretty much match up with the manual shift from like 78'-85'.

 

[studdy05]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Any V8 5.0, 5.7 or 5.8 that is manual shift as you mentioned will pretty much get you where you want to be...worse case scenario is a prop change if you feel that way after you are done.

Might just try to grab an upper, as your lower is probably ok. Be real careful on what you buy, I have seen a bunch of stuff passed off with bad gears and they all seem to need oil seals.

One last thing, if you get just gears, and you want new bearings and races, then take the bearings to your nearest Orielly Auto. They will sell you some from Timken with a different name brand for half the price...but still made by Timken. Just need to give them the Timken part number.

 

[kilapapipa]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Thanks for all the info. everyone.

 

[gojayo]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Hello All. I broke the upper gear set and needed to replace it. So I bought an 800 off of someone repowering their boat with a duo prop...bought the whole mess. I took the upper gearbox and stuck it on my boat...got really good with threading the shift cable from complete installations TWICE and got ready in a hurry to go out on the 4th. BUT...as we were loading the boat with stuff while it was in my back yard on the trailer I put a water hose on the lower and started it one more time. Everything looked and sounded great. I turned the steering wheel back and forth...something didn't seem quite right though. Seems the upper I stuck onto my drive had backward steering threads on the steering gears. I'd turn to go left and the drive moved to turn the boat right. There went the 4th. I've had never read anything about that being a possible issue. More parts swapping from the old drive upper, but a hassle. Good luck with you job. There's more seals and stuff including many seized bolts that break easy on these old drives than one can believe. I'm really tired of the 800.

 

[kilapapipa]

Re: 1983 OMC, lost oil in Inter. and no go.

Any pointers for romoving the drive and especially the shift cable. I have been reading up on it but it is still a bit fuzzy. Maybe it will be better when I look at it. I bought a whole drive as well and it is being shipped, not cheap but cheaper than a rebuild(purchase). I will learn how to rebuild them this winter when I tear into my old one or the both if I get hosed off EBAY.