1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

[manofprawnz]

Step 1 of doing a service on my drive was to pull the outdrive and do the water pump. After undoing all the bolts we had a hell of a time separating the lower unit. We were finally able to get a bit of a gap open up, kept on applying heat to the joint in the mating surfaces, shots of WD 40, more pressure, and finally achived separation. The mating surfaces were very clean. From what we could tell corrosion around the two studs near the trim tab could have been holding the two units together.

When we separated the drive unit the rubber o-ring was still in place in the grove where it was supposed to be. Above the o-ring was a strange "springy thingy" that I am trying to identify. Unfortuantely I am having troubles uploading a photo of it, not sure why. The "thingy" is like a o-ring, but instead of rubber is made of metal, like a circular spring. It was just sitting there like it had be wedged between the o-ring and spines. Could it be an old type of o-ring that was left in during the last service? It had sort of grease or grime around it, but when I rubbed it the stuff just fell off exposing the metal spring.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

It's probably the tension spring out of the oil seal in the lower end of the upper drive shaft housing. If you look up into the upper housing (using a flashlight) you will be able to see the seal.

 

[Mkos1980]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

Yup. Thats the lower oil seal on the upper unit. You need to get a new one. About 13 bucks at the dealer. I just changed mine myself as it was destroyed after pulling them apart.just look to where the shaft would just start to slide into the upper housing. Thats the one. I removed mine with a screwdriver by prying it out and tapped the new one in.

 

[achris]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

After you have put your new seal in and done the service on the water pump, do not put a new 'O' ring on the top of the drive shaft.... It was deleted from future Merc driveshafts because it causes more problems then it solves. It was possibly the reason why your driveshaft was stuck in the first place....

Chris...............

 

[manofprawnz]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

Thanks for the input, finally got the image to upload. Hopefully I will be able to get the new spring back up there without too much trouble. Also, I noticed that the two mating surfaces did not have any type of sealant on them. Should I reassemble it this way when the time comes?

 

[Mkos1980]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

Its not just a spring. Its part of a whole new seal.

 

[starsnstripers]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

Like Mkos ^^^ said, That springy thingy came out of the seal. Need a "new" seal. The new seal will have spring in it, they dont come seperate. Besides that if the spring fell out of it like that the seal is junk. As Achris said too, that o-ring on the top of that shaft in the pic has been done away with, just leave it out. If that seal is that dry and the spring fell apart you might want to replace the shift shaft bushing/seal also, it's inexpensive too. I'm 90 % sure that you dont seal the housings "upper/lower" when you put them back together. Someone might back me up on that? Good luck!

 

[achris]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

Thanks for the input, finally got the image to upload. Hopefully I will be able to get the new spring back up there without too much trouble.

You could try that. Good luck. But I would be replacing the seal. It's only a few dollars and you really don't want it to leak.

Also, I noticed that the two mating surfaces did not have any type of sealant on them. Should I reassemble it this way when the time comes?

DO NOT put any sealer on the mating surfaces of the housings. It's not a sealing surface. Just put plenty of grease on the bolts and studs.

Chris...............

 

[JustJason]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

you may want to use a dab of gasket glue to hold in the O ring for the oil passage between the 2 halves.

 

[JCF350]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

After you have put your new seal in and done the service on the water pump, do not put a new 'O' ring on the top of the drive shaft.... It was deleted from future Merc driveshafts because it causes more problems then it solves. It was possibly the reason why your driveshaft was stuck in the first place....

Chris...............

The real problem was caused by nut twisters putting to much grease on the splines. The grease would push the O-ring down before it had a chance to be fully inserted into the female end of the upper shaft. This was covered in Mercruiser school at the time. But no matter now they are gone cookies.

 

[manofprawnz]

Re: 1990 Alpha 1 Outdrive - Spingy Thingy?

Thanks everyone for your help and comments. I had a peek in the upper housing and sure enough the oil seals are destroyed. Having read in other posts about doing the shift cable at the same time, I have a kit in my posession.

Now a question about shimming: Next weekend I will be pulling the upper unit. I am going to pull the drive gears at that time and inspect all the bearings and other innards for damage. If all I have to replace are the oil seals, will I have to check the shimming? I am taking the family to the States in 3 weeks and would like to order all the extras I may need at that time, but would rather not buy the shimming tool if I do not need it.