hard to shift into gear

sergioy

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
Messages
376
I have a 1975 18' Mark Twain with a 165 hp Mercruiser I/O. And a pre-alpha outdrive. This past Saturday I was out at Beaver Lake in AR. The boating was good, but when I got home I noticed that there was a hole on the side of my outdrive that wasn't there before. I went ahead and checked the outdrive oil and found it was milky. I know it wasn't milky before because I jsut changed it. Since there was no thread at the spot where the hole was, assumed it had some kind of plug there. Since the labor day weekend was in full swing I was unable to get to a boat mechanic that was opened. So I went ahead and put some steel epoxy on it so cover the hole on a temp. basis.<br />The next day when I went out play around in the water, I noticed that shifting into forward was kinf of stiff. But it wtill went onto gear and it ran like a champ. Except for the stiff shifting.<br /><br />Can anyone here tell me what the hole I covered up with the epoxy was? It was on the opposite side of the vent and filler screws. It is about an inch in diameter, and is it a plug that goes there or what.<br /><br />Thanks in advanced, and yes I know that suing the epoxy for a a temp fix was probably not a good idea, but desperate times call for desperete measures. :(
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,074
Re: hard to shift into gear

Water_surge, I do not know your drive, however, my Alpha One Gen I drive has a round hole on the starboard side of the upper part of the drive. This covers the shift mechanism, and normally has an aluminum welch plug covering it. The shift rod inside must be free to move in/out to effect shifting. Since our drives are similar, I recommend you check this out.<br /><br />PS the plugs are available and cheap at the dealer.<br />PPS mine fell out again, and I left it!
 

sergioy

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
Messages
376
Re: hard to shift into gear

Thanks Chris I will have to give this a try.
 

fargo

Recruit
Joined
Jun 3, 2004
Messages
1
Re: hard to shift into gear

I have a volvo penta outdrive that shifted hard last season. Problem was...had too much oil in the outdrive. Took some oil out and it shifts smooth now.
 
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