215E Mercruiser drive making noise...

[MyWoody]

Hi there...

I just bought this 1970 Skiff Craft, 26' hard top, with a 302 ford, 215 engine badge. I have figured out from this great forum and google, that it has a 215E Mercruiser Sterndrive SN: 2909204 . This drive is injured in some form, I haven't gotten a chance to pull it off the boat yet to inspect it. But the previous owner said that when he pulled the boat out the last time it was used, there was a wack! wack! wack! noise coming from the drive back end. Does anyone want to speculate as to what this could mean? Gimbel bearing? U Joints, gear set? The boat left the water under its own power, and I want to get her back in shape to be on the water next summer. Does anyone have a source for parts on the 215E drives? Does anyone have a used 215E for sale? I know there aren't hardly any of these around and I'm just looking for advice and knowledge...

Also, are there any other skiff craft owners with this set up?

Best regards,
MyWoody

 

[Fishermark]

Re: 215E Mercruiser drive making noise...

Does anyone want to speculate as to what this could mean? Gimbel bearing? U Joints, gear set?

First of all - welcome!

Secondly - you pretty well hit the typical speculation areas. Next step is to pull the outdrive off and see if anything is obvious and go from there.

 

[MyWoody]

Re: 215E Mercruiser drive making noise...

Alright, now I need to grab some tools and a 6 pack. I will report back the findings....

 

[Don S]

Re: 215E Mercruiser drive making noise...

If you right click on the link below and choose save as, then save it to your computer, you will have the OEM service manual for your engine and drive.
One note. It's just over 1 GigaByte in size. Depending on your internet service, it could take hours.

http://www-alt.mercurymarine.com/mnetdata/SERVICE/CRUISER/Servmanl/01/cover.pdf