1984 OMC 3L Stringer stern drive HELP

[Otis1982]

I bought a nice 17 foot SunRay with a 1984 OMC 3L inboard with stern drive.I knew the motor needed some work and got it purring like a champ. it shifted in to forward and reverse without a problem and had a ton of power to the prop. ( ran it with muffs) I noticed that the steering was pretty sticky so i tighten that all up and it seemed way better and was going to test it out the water. put it in the water and let it warm up then went out to hit the bay. i turned the steering wheel and the motor stalled and had trouble starting up again.... I paddled back to the dock with my head hung low..

When I got home we looked everything over and and the motor fired right back up, shifted great and the prop had power, the boat seemed to ran better and faster than Forest Gump but when i turned the steering wheel the motor came to a dead stop and I dont mean it stalled out I mead DEAD STOP.

I can fix motors but this out drive / leg / stern drive scares me to death as I cant find much info on them.
Any help would be very much appreciated

 

[Scott Danforth]

First, Welcome aboard

next, OMC went out of business in the 90's, the stringer was obsolete long before yours was new. they had to wait until a patent ran out to introduce the cobra drives.

with any new to you boat, you need to do all the maintenance, and on your stringer...... my guess is the ball gears are trashed and need to be replaced. the kit is about $200 and you need a few special tools. you also need to inspect the tru-course steering. you may have either a pivot or bearing issue.

in addition, you need to put in a new raw water pump assembly. not just the impeller, I recommend the whole pump assembly.

then when you are installing the new pump, you need to inspect the vertical driveshafts for damage to the splines. you may need new vertical driveshafts if they have not been replaced yet.

the shift cable is about $750 for a new one, do not damage yours


if you want a factory manual https://www.outboardbooks.com/
if you want a good source for parts and videos on the old stringer drives http://sterndrive.info/

with your 37 year old boat, you will also want to inspect for rot and water saturation of the flotation foam.

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome aboard.

Are you saying on muffs that the motor dies when you turn the wheel? Does it happen in both directions?

Open the doghouse and when someone turns the wheel see if anything is snagging or rubbing on anything.

Don't rev the motor very high out of the water or you may find out the parts are hard to find for OMC Stringer drives.

 

[Otis1982]

Thank you Scott and GA floater.
I did not want to have to pull off the out drive but its sounding like its going to have to happen.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Thank you Scott and GA floater.
I did not want to have to pull off the out drive but its sounding like its going to have to happen.

You have to pull the drive off every year for routine service

 

[kenny nunez]

Does this engine have a power steering pump? If not then I must admit that I have never had a OMC boat engine stop with the helm at the stops come to my shop. With the drive in the full down position what does the oil in the upper and lower gear housings look like.

 

[Otis1982]

I replaced the the upper and lower case oil but ill drain it and look for metal in it.

 

[Redrig]

I know that extra work always sucks , but these guys are right .

Pull the drive , stringers are fairly easy to remove .

for any new to you boat, pressure test the upper and lower , new impeller and grease all splines at a minimum.

 

[Otis1982]

Drained the upper and lower oils. The upper looked okay but not great and the lower was very low and milky so going to have to get a seal set. also turns out it is going to need a new fuel pump. i and going to convert it to a electric pump 2.5 to 4 psi this Thursday. I just want to get it out on the water for one day this year and ill tear that out drive apart this winter.
I live in Manitoba Canada so that will be any day now : )

 

[Scott Danforth]

also turns out it is going to need a new fuel pump. i and going to convert it to a electric pump 2.5 to 4 psi this Thursday.

a mechanical pump is half the cost and 5x as good as an electric pump. why would you want to degrade to an electric pump?

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

the cover on top of the upper has shims that adjust steering clearance. If it was assembled without shims, that might make it tight. Stalling the engine though? Thats a new one.. steering cable drum rubbing on some wiring maybe?

 

[Otis1982]

UPDATE***
found that fuel tank was plugged up and starving the pump when on the water under load. (fixed)
Drained all the gear oils and replace it. still hearing a little grinding from the upper unit I am pretty sure its a crappy bearing and will replace it this winter when i redo the water pump.
Steering is still hard to turn when under load but when the boat gets up on plain it steers smooth and runs like a champ.
I cant thank everyone enough for all the help with this old boat. .

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

a 1984 stringer should steer with 2 fingers load or no... trucourse steering one of the best things about those drives. Your steering shaft has a grease fitting where the shaft goes out through the intermediate housing as i recall. . could need grease