Alpha 1, Gen1 lower seal in upper unit. 1989 249 original hours.

[CRay45DB]

I bought the Sierra impeller replacement kit. Dropped the lower unit, 1st time on a merc, have done others, went fine untill the gear oil went everywhere. Thanks West Marine! Lesson learned.

Impeller was ready, hard as a rock, pretty straight forward. Put it back together, put it back into the upper unit, and could only get it as close as 1". Finally took it back out, looked up in the upper housing to discover the oil seal, 96503 1 drive shaf lower was in there, kind of crushed. Took it out.

I don't have any idea why this happened, but it did.

Is this common and I go get another? How do I check to make sure nothing else got damages, and how does this go back in?

All help is really appreciated. Merc is my least knowledgable area.

Thanks!

 

[nola mike]

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Can't check the diagram from my phone, but if it's the seal/o-ring I'm thinking of that goes on the drive shaft, you can go without it.

 

[CRay45DB]

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Can't check the diagram from my phone, but if it's the seal/o-ring I'm thinking of that goes on the drive shaft, you can go without it.

If ur talking about the o-ring below the splines in the drive shaft, that's not the one. This is part of the upper drive schematic.

 

[CRay45DB]

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

http://www.**********/parts/detail/mercurymarine/M-61100A 1.html

 

[ktbarrentine]

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

I am pretty sure I know which one you are talking about (your link does not work, by the way). Do you have both the lower and upper off of the boat? If you try and reinstall the lower while the upper is still on the boat, this can happen (crushing / damaging that seal carrier)....and, as some people will tell you, the o-ring on the shaft can also cause problems, but that is more likely that the oring gets dislodged and prevents the lower grease seal from doing its job. Then you get water up into those splines and things get nasty. Most people will tell you it is OK to leave that O-ring off; Merc did away with the oring groove on the later model alphas.

You need to pull the upper off the boat to do the best job of reinstalling a new lower seal in there. Then when you go to reinstall the lower, you have a direct view of the shaft going in and can minimize the chances of the same thing happening again.

 

[CRay45DB]

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

I am pretty sure I know which one you are talking about (your link does not work, by the way). Do you have both the lower and upper off of the boat? If you try and reinstall the lower while the upper is still on the boat, this can happen (crushing / damaging that seal carrier)....and, as some people will tell you, the o-ring on the shaft can also cause problems, but that is more likely that the oring gets dislodged and prevents the lower grease seal from doing its job. Then you get water up into those splines and things get nasty. Most people will tell you it is OK to leave that O-ring off; Merc did away with the oring groove on the later model alphas.

You need to pull the upper off the boat to do the best job of reinstalling a new lower seal in there. Then when you go to reinstall the lower, you have a direct view of the shaft going in and can minimize the chances of the same thing happening again.

I do not have the upper removed. Supposed to be a simple impeller change. Never pulled the upon on this unit, not afraid, but guess I need to figure out in the manual where the instructions are. Can't I just remove the top plate of the upper, pull out the upper shaft and rebuild?

 

[CRay45DB]

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

I am pretty sure I know which one you are talking about (your link does not work, by the way). Do you have both the lower and upper off of the boat? If you try and reinstall the lower while the upper is still on the boat, this can happen (crushing / damaging that seal carrier)....and, as some people will tell you, the o-ring on the shaft can also cause problems, but that is more likely that the oring gets dislodged and prevents the lower grease seal from doing its job. Then you get water up into those splines and things get nasty. Most people will tell you it is OK to leave that O-ring off; Merc did away with the oring groove on the later model alphas.

You need to pull the upper off the boat to do the best job of reinstalling a new lower seal in there. Then when you go to reinstall the lower, you have a direct view of the shaft going in and can minimize the chances of the same thing happening again.

Ok,

Now have the upper odd. Still separated. I am guessing looking in through the back of the upper unit, pic attached, that the seal goes in to that casing before the receiver spline. With that being said, merc sells the whole seal kit only, so is there away to remove the shaft and replace all f the seals since I have them? Also included pics of the out drive, bellows doe 3 years ago. Seem fine, anyone see anything else I should do while I have the thing apart?View attachment 192489TACH]

 

[achris]

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

Re: Alpha 1, Gen1 impeller replacement problem. 1989 249 original hours.

I do not have the upper removed. Supposed to be a simple impeller change. Never pulled the upon on this unit, not afraid, but guess I need to figure out in the manual where the instructions are. Can't I just remove the top plate of the upper, pull out the upper shaft and rebuild?

No no no..... The seal that 'fell' out is the lower of the 2 seals in the bottom of the top box, and can ONLY be installed from the bottom. And even if you did pull the cap off the top box, you can't get the driven gear out with out first removing the drive gear and bearing pack, which can only be done with the box removed. Yes, you can put a new seal in (don't even think about re-using the seal that fell out!!!) with the top box still on the boat, but boy, you're making life complicated for yourself... You should be pulling the whole drive off anyway to check alignment and grease unis, and check bellows and gimbal bearing.

To install the new seal with the top box still in place, put the new seal on a seal driver and offer it up to the right location, then drive it in... To do it with the top box off the boat, flip the box over and use a drift/punch/seal driver/flat piece of steel to drive the new seal in.

With that being said, merc sells the whole seal kit only,

Who told you that rubbish? The part number of the seal you need is 26-965031....

Chris.......