tl;dr. I blew the outdrive on a 1989 Mercruiser Alpha One and need help determining if I need to replace the whole outdrive or can get away with just the lower.
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Hi all,
I recently acquired a 20' 1989 Raven Bow Rider with a Mercuiser 220hp 4.3hp V6 (Alpha One outdrive). I took it out a few times and on the 3rd trip after floating to fish it wouldn't shift.
Here's what I did:
Inspected the remote shift cable and the operation all appears to be fine.
Next I wanted to feel what the prop was doing. With the boat off and in drive or reverse; turning the prop there is no engagement, bit of "clunking", and a bit of inconsistent "ratcheting" (e.g: click, click, click, spin free 3x, click, spin 1x, click, click).
I pulled the outdrive drain and pure water came out, not milky oil, but pure, clear water. I honestly don't know where the oil went, I think it was displaced by all of the water. After the water stopped dripping a small amount of sludgy oil and metal shavings came out. The drain plug magnet was full of metal shavings too.
Next I pulled the outdrive off, the top bellow didn't appear full of water or oil, so it didn't go there. There is a clear sign of some gasket damage on the bottom and it looks like water may have entered from the bottom and possibly entered the lower unit through where the shifting linkage comes through. There is a bit of play side to side on the shifting linkage (the one that comes up from the bottom of the outdrive, not the shifting cable from the boat).
Now is where I need a bit of help determining if I need to replace the whole outdrive or only the lower. There is a salvage yard near me that will sell the entire outdrive for $800. I can buy the outdrive new online for $1300 with a 3 year warranty. I have also found the lower's online for around $400. Obviously the $400 option looks the best, but I need to know what to look for in the upper to determine that it isn't damaged.
Thank you in advance for your help.
----
Hi all,
I recently acquired a 20' 1989 Raven Bow Rider with a Mercuiser 220hp 4.3hp V6 (Alpha One outdrive). I took it out a few times and on the 3rd trip after floating to fish it wouldn't shift.
Here's what I did:
Inspected the remote shift cable and the operation all appears to be fine.
Next I wanted to feel what the prop was doing. With the boat off and in drive or reverse; turning the prop there is no engagement, bit of "clunking", and a bit of inconsistent "ratcheting" (e.g: click, click, click, spin free 3x, click, spin 1x, click, click).
I pulled the outdrive drain and pure water came out, not milky oil, but pure, clear water. I honestly don't know where the oil went, I think it was displaced by all of the water. After the water stopped dripping a small amount of sludgy oil and metal shavings came out. The drain plug magnet was full of metal shavings too.
Next I pulled the outdrive off, the top bellow didn't appear full of water or oil, so it didn't go there. There is a clear sign of some gasket damage on the bottom and it looks like water may have entered from the bottom and possibly entered the lower unit through where the shifting linkage comes through. There is a bit of play side to side on the shifting linkage (the one that comes up from the bottom of the outdrive, not the shifting cable from the boat).
Now is where I need a bit of help determining if I need to replace the whole outdrive or only the lower. There is a salvage yard near me that will sell the entire outdrive for $800. I can buy the outdrive new online for $1300 with a 3 year warranty. I have also found the lower's online for around $400. Obviously the $400 option looks the best, but I need to know what to look for in the upper to determine that it isn't damaged.
Thank you in advance for your help.
