Corrosion inside water passages of Alpha drive

[jy118lfd]

On my 1999 Alpha gen 2 5.0L I noticed inside the gimbal housing and upper unit There is some corrosion pits in the aluminum. In the upper unit I scraped the corrosion and the hole was about 1/4 inch deep. Pics below. The drive is about 1 inch thick here but I am a little concerned. In the gimbal housing the divots (3 small ones) are about 1/8 inch deep. Anyone ever see this? How can I treat the aluminum to stop or slow the corrosion?

 

[JustJason]

Re: Corrosion inside water passages of Alpha drive

welcome to the world of salt.

The best thing you could to if your willing to take a bit of time is to sand that flat with some 400 grit and a sanding block. After its smooth and clean... prime it, sand it, prime it, sand it, clean it, paint it, sand it, clean it, paint it..... after that put a little perfect seal on the 0 ring that seals that opening.

 

[jy118lfd]

Re: Corrosion inside water passages of Alpha drive

Yea unfortunatly I know all about the brine. I just could not for the life of me understand why the inside looks like that and there is no corosion on the outside of my drive. I have wet slipped the boat for 5 years and its in mostly fresh as I am way up the river. I just wondered how many years I will have left before it gives me a problem.

 

[jy118lfd]

Re: Corrosion inside water passages of Alpha drive

welcome to the world of salt.

The best thing you could to if your willing to take a bit of time is to sand that flat with some 400 grit and a sanding block. After its smooth and clean... prime it, sand it, prime it, sand it, clean it, paint it, sand it, clean it, paint it..... after that put a little perfect seal on the 0 ring that seals that opening.

Its not so much the sealing area but the divot inside the passage.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Corrosion inside water passages of Alpha drive

kinda tough to tell from the pics.... but isn't that the water passage in the upper that your posting?

 

[jy118lfd]

Re: Corrosion inside water passages of Alpha drive

Yes that is the upper. I did not get a pic of the gimbal housing. The gimbal housing is not nearly that bad.