Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

[Iceman Yella]

Was out on the river for about 20 min and was at wot around 4000rpm. water was a little rough and as I was going lost power to the out drive. Something broke but do not know what. I was told some link between the drive shaft and outdrive? Did not sound good when it broke down. I have a merc 350 and alpha 1, any ideas of what could have happened or part that broke.

 

[picklenjim]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

Possibly coupler between the engine and drive. First the drive will need to be removed to see if it might be something in the drive. If it is the coupler the engine will need to come out.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

It could be a whole list of things... Suggest you pull the outdrive off if you heard noises.. Go from there

 

[sethjon]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

Was out on the river for about 20 min and was at wot around 4000rpm. water was a little rough and as I was going lost power to the out drive. Something broke but do not know what. I was told some link between the drive shaft and outdrive? Did not sound good when it broke down. I have a merc 350 and alpha 1, any ideas of what could have happened or part that broke.

First thing to check and easiest problem to fix is the prop. Maybe you spun it.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

I spun my prop last weekend. Hammered the throttle and about two seconds later that engine revved to about 6 grand. We spun the prop hub. Easy fix, get a new prop.

Here is how I diagnosed it. Put the drive in gear (with th engine off) and see of you can turn the prop. It will turn one way and click, and should not go the other way. If it goes both ways look at the center shaft. If it stays stationary you have a bad prop hub. If the center shaft turns and funny noises are heard, you have bigger problems.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

Yeah that would be the first thing to do.. I never toasted one.. I just figured he busted something since he said it didnt sound good when it cratered

 

[steddy]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

Shift cable broke on my brother in law's Liberator. Same symptoms.

Also agree with prop hub spinning. That can happen easily with a V8. Some consider replacing the prop hub regular maintenance.

 

[Cpt D]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

When you say it didn't sound good, what did it sound like? Did the motor heat up when this happened?

 

[Iceman Yella]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

When it broke, sounded like something was clunking or banging around the end of the drive shaft, the drive shaft still spun but nothing was moving on the out drive. I think I may have had too much weight or may have had my trim up too much at high speeds and was told the coupler could have broke from other boaters who towed me back. My prop could have caused this, i have a multi pitch quick silver prop, which acts like a transmission.

 

[howlnmad]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

Maybe a u-joint? You'll know when you pull the drive. Clunking, most likely no a spun prop hub.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

Yep that has got to be the u-joint. You are lucky it did not tear the belows and let a whole bunch of water in.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

Was out on the river for about 20 min and was at wot around 4000rpm. water was a little rough and as I was going lost power to the out drive. Something broke but do not know what. I was told some link between the drive shaft and outdrive? Did not sound good when it broke down. I have a merc 350 and alpha 1, any ideas of what could have happened or part that broke.

When was the last time you pulled your drive and checked alignment, greased u-joints and greased the driveshaft going into the coupler?

When you lost power did you start to over heat? If you lost your coupler, your raw water pump in your drive will no longer turn.

 

[dingdongs]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

may have sheared splines off top of verticle shaft.may be time to look in cap on top of drive too.investigating yourself doesn't cost anything.get back to us all

 

[plasmud]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

we had a similar experience today on the Hudson. all was well. motoring slowly out the creek, then for no reason the motor starts to heat up and the outdrive acts like it has no connection to the boat.
When we stopped the engine, the prop does seem to go into drive in forward not so much in reverse. and neutral works as neutral just no clunking sound when running and put into either gear. We stopped the engine around 220 Degrees. it sounded normal when we stopped it

So from what I am reading, seems like I lost the universals or the splined shaft? whats the coupler and how do I check this after I remove the lower section of the outdrive????

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

The coupler is at the back of the engine. You can look at the back to see if you see a bunch of metal particles spread all over the place.

 

[john744]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

I had a similar scenario with my OMC Cobra. In my case, the pinion gear literally twisted off of the vertical drive shaft in the lower gear assy. If this is the case, you should have no overheating issue as the waterpump will continue to spin. You will have no forward or reverse, and should be able to spin the prop by hand regardless of the shift position (only try this with the engine off). Good Luck.

 

[Iceman Yella]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

Checked the prop and cable so nothing is wrong on that end, The last time it was greased was when it was winterized was what I was told when i bought it in early july. Nothing looks broke from the outside or torn up so its internal.I will try and tear down to look inside the outdrive and let you all know but I do not feel comfortable doing so incase I mess something else up buy not putting it back together the right way. I tried to look at the easiest way to check it but not sure what to do when tearing it appart and what to look for, any help on this will be good. Thanks for all the post, does not seem to be as bad as I thought.

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

may have sheared splines off top of verticle shaft.may be time to look in cap on top of drive too.investigating yourself doesn't cost anything.get back to us all

Do this 4 bolts and top cover comes off have a little lookseee

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: Broke down on river, engine works but no power to out drive.

When you pull the drive off and reinstall it, make sure the shifter is in forward which positions the shift shaft in the outdrive straight as see in Ziggy's photo attached. This is seen from the forward end of the outdrive. In the photo drive is in reverse.