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    Maintenance intervals

    Yea mine have some abrasions from contact also but not terrible. So I’m going to wait. I’ll replace clip with zip tie.
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    Maintenance intervals

    A looked at my bellows today and they seem in good condition. Still flexible with no cracks. My shift bellows does have some signs of dry rot in the folds. And the metal clip is pretty rusted. Still ok or change shift bellows?
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    Maintenance intervals

    True. Seems like all my toy’s maintenance schedules are by hours but it’s just easier to do things annually and most of it is inspect and replace when needed. I created checklists for everything I need to inspect. I’ll have to re-do my boat checklist to include inspections of other items now...
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    Maintenance intervals

    Yea I’m going to do what I do with all my other toys. Inspect every fall / spring and R&R items at fist sign of wear / failure. Obviously fluids get changed on regular bases (every fall for boat). Not hard to pull drive to inspect internals like bellows and such.
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    Maintenance intervals

    Makes sense. I was just wondering.
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    Maintenance intervals

    So I was looking up a part on Mercury’s parts website and went to the Maintenance Kits section for the alpha 1 gen II drives. They have a 100 hour maintenance kit and 300 hour maintenance kit. The 300 hour maintenance kit includes the bellows, gimbal bearing, shift cable, anodes, and water...
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    Maintenance intervals

    Gotcha. I see what you’re saying and makes sense.
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    Maintenance intervals

    Ok I should clarify… I use merc stuff for all my repairs except for engine oil and the spark plugs / plug wires (when I changed them). Everything else is merc. Whatever I’m working on whether it be marine or my ATV’s, snowmobiles, motorcycles, cars… I always order the genuine parts for that...
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    Maintenance intervals

    I’ll just take the outdrive off and inspect the gimble bearing, bellows and alignment for now and maybe hold off on water pump. I have to look at my records and see when I changed it last. Probably about 5 years ago. Oh and I always use oem parts when it comes to everything i own. Thanks...
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    Maintenance intervals

    Yea I’m pretty comfortable taking the outdrive off and on. It’s pretty easy. Done in plenty of times on my boat and some others when I worked for a marina as a “starting mechanic” (was a parts guy forever then started wrenching before I moved on to what I do now). That was 15 years ago, thus me...
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    Maintenance intervals

    Ok thanks everyone! What should I look for when inspecting the shift cable? To check the gimble bearing, just stick my finger up in there and check for smooth turning and any play? Engine does runs little rough when in drive and advanced a little. Almost like it stumbles a little. Otherwise...
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    Maintenance intervals

    It’s stored indoors. When we’re at the cabin, it stays in the water for a week at a time. Bellows are original and look perfect. I’ll still probably change them though as the are 20 years old. What about ignition system? How often for a tune up (cap, rotor, plugs and cables)? What about...
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    Maintenance intervals

    Is there a link or can someone tell me some basic maintenance intervals for the alpha 1 gen II outdrive? A basic chart when to inspect or replace things per year (I.e. bellows, I-joints, shift cable, etc) I think I’m way overdue on my Bellows. I’m ordering them now but also want to complete...
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    Automatic bilge wiring help

    Hello all! I’m wiring my bilge with a float for backup. I want a on-off dash switch where I can turn on to manually activate bilge and when the switch is off, the bilge is controlled by the float. I’m planning on using a 5 pin relay for this where terminal 87 will go to bilge pump and 87a will...
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    Surge brake question (don’t know if it’s normal)

    I’m using my buddies boat this summer and it has surge brakes. The boat was previously stored at another buddies house and he never did any maintenance and the maintenance he did do was pretty shady tree. The master cylinder was replaced a couple years ago and I replaced a broken brake line...
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    Stumped on cooling system issue

    First time running boat this year and we’ve got overheating issues. It’s a 4.3 mercruiser with alpha 1 drive. So running it wide open temp climbs and alarm goes off, slow down and you see the temp gauge drop and go to normal. Increase speed and same thing happens. It will also overheat at...
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    Hopefully simple aluminum paint question

    Hello all! I’m re-doing the interior of my brothers boat and I’m looking to re-paint it. It’s just a older fishing boat so I’m not looking for a $300 paint job. Interior is already coated and in good condition except for a small area of bare metal from where the livewell used to be. I have a...
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    4.3 Mercrusier Timing Mark

    I seen this posted in the past forum but it didn't quite answer my question. I have a 03 Fourwinns with a 4.3 mercruiser (thunderbolt ignition). I'm looking at timing the engine; however I cannot find the timing tab. I see the one line on the balancer but no "tab" on the engine. I could have...
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