Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

[rhillman75]

Just as the thread states, I am looking for advice on whether to or not to "tackle" this myself. Long story short, I took in about 2 gallons of water into the bilge when we went to run it one last time before winterizing last year. I had a mechanic previously replace the u-joints bellows that had a prior tear in it from age. I have come to terms with either he did it incorrectly or there needs to be more maintenance to the other bellows (which caused other leaking?) I have a marina that has my outdrive right now, that stated under a pressure test, it was losing pressure around the wather pump housing gasket and the shift shaft seal. Could this be where the water was coming in, I don't know! The marina also said that with it being a 1996 Mercruiser Alpha One outdrive, it should ALL be re-done (bellows/gimbal/sender kit.) The marina quoted me about $1,200-$1,400 dollars with re-assembly. Now being that I can re-build engines & transmission and the fact that I do NOT have ALL the specific tools needed, shoudl I try this on my own, which requires me to buy the tools online, or just let them have t it? I have taken everything off except for the gimabl ring in the past but I have never thought of doing this. Thoughts?

 

[Jmunk]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

I believe you can get one already rebuilt for close to that. If you don't have the tools needed, and are okay with making that investiment and have a good manual then it's all what your comfort level is. If you don't want to buy the right tools, then I wouldn't do it. Thats just me.

 

[mike165]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

You can buy all the tools for $120 diy

 

[ziggy]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

Thoughts?

1st i don't have a genII drive nor experience on it, much. i do keep up my old mc-1 drive though.

I took in about 2 gallons of water into the bilge when we went to run it one last time before winterizing last year. I had a mechanic previously replace the u-joints bellows that had a prior tear in it from age. I have come to terms with either he did it incorrectly or there needs to be more maintenance to the other bellows (which caused other leaking?)

places that leak water into a boat can be drive shaft bellows, shift cable bellows, shift shaft seal in the bell housing, gasket that mates the gimble housing to the boat. best i know, that's about it. other than optional other thru hull fittings.

I have a marina that has my outdrive right now, that stated under a pressure test, it was losing pressure around the wather pump housing gasket and the shift shaft seal

since they have the drive only, i'll assume that the shift shaft seal they refer to is in the lower. and so is the water pump base seal and water pump gaskets to that hold the housing to the water pump base. these items would require only these two items to be R&Red that are in the lower only. i don't think these seals let water into the boat. they do let water into the drive. into the gear lub. milky gear lub would be notable.

The marina also said that with it being a 1996 Mercruiser Alpha One outdrive, it should ALL be re-done (bellows/gimbal/sender kit.)

ya already had the bellows done (maybe not the shift cable bellows though). the gimble brg. will last a long time if it don't come into contact with water. if the senders work. why fix them?

The marina quoted me about $1,200-$1,400 dollars with re-assembly.

imho, they're fixing things that don't need fixing. ie. trim senders. the water pump seal in the lower could be pm while your replacing your impeller. the shift shaft from what i read isn't that hard a job.

Now being that I can re-build engines & transmission and the fact that I do NOT have ALL the specific tools needed, shoudl I try this on my own, which requires me to buy the tools

what i'm describing. probably don't take to many special tools.

a new aftermarket sei drive w/warrenty is about $1400. that don't do anything for the leak though. ie, shift shaft in the bell housing or the shift cable.

maybe ya need to read the facts on what your thinking about doing. http://boatinfo.no/lib/library.html s/m 14 covers your drive. read the part about the gear housing and water pump replacement. shift shaft will also be in that section. it'll let you know if you need any special tools or not. and what they are if ya do.

ya sound handy to me. i think i'd read up on what may need to take place and then make the decision weather to do it your self or not.

 

[rhillman75]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

I had a friend that sent me a 2-part movie today that he got from a marina in FL where they use it as a training tool for the Alpha's. With that said, I have decided to do it myself, and barring I don't sink the next time I'm out then it's a success, if not, then it's hurry back to the dock, load it up and send it to the marina. As are as the leak that I know as of right now, I am being told it is the water pump housing gasket and the shift shaft seal. I do remember having a leak on the driveway that was trickling gear oil down the upper shift shaft, so I will be replacing that as well. I guess for now is finding the RIGHT kit! Has anyone every dealt with sterndrives.com? I see they have the bellows/gimbal kit at $200.00 and the optional tools as well, plus they have the Mercarb rebuild kit I need as well. My biggest concern is having ALL the parts before I start and then get "shafted" if I order it wrong. I am going to leave the transom on since I seen the training video was with the just the gimbal housing removed. Where can I get the tools for the $120 price? Everywhere I've seen the tools it is much HIGHER!

 

[cr2k]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

Why go to boat part anything? You can get the needed parts right here on iboats. You know, the people that host this forum so you can ask questions and fix it yourself.
As for the tools look on ebay.

Neither of those issues you mentioned will cause water to leak into the bilge. So you also still need to look for that problem.

 

[achris]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

The price quoted to reseal that box is a croc! It's about 6 hours work, and a $150 seal kit, and... You buy a complete BRAND NEW drive, with 3 year warranty, from iBoats for that price! If you want to reseal yourself, you need (apart from standard hand tools), 3 special tools, a torque wrench, a puller and a seal kit. Also best to have the factory manual. Clymer = hand wipes, Seloc = knee pad.... or is it the other way round?

Anyway, read through the manual (several times) before you start the job. Do it in your head a few times and you'll know what you're up against. If you don't have the manual -> http://www.4shared.com/document/dPQUcyn_/Service_Manual_14.html

From the manual these are the tools you'll need,

U-joint Bearing Retainer Wrench 91-17256
Bearing Carrier Retainer NutWrench 91-61069T
Water pump alignment pins 91-821571A1

Buy them on fleaBay or Craig's thingy....

 

[ziggy]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

^^agree w/cr2k. iboats sells parts...
only reason i go anywhere different would be to shop for oem parts. i usually do that at my local dealer who's a mile away.
i also use mercuriserparts.com i get oem part numbers from there. then if i want o get aftermarket i got the right part number to transpose to aftermarket parts.

My biggest concern is having ALL the parts before I start and then get "shafted" if I order it wrong.

fwiw. i've found most of the repairs i've done to my rig, that i pre order parts for, i either don't get what i need or i need something extra due to finding hidden problems that i find while fixing what i thought needed repair. imho, get parts after ya know what ya need.

I am going to leave the transom on since I seen the training video was with the just the gimbal housing removed.

what does that mean? imho. ya need to read the oem service manual so you can describe what parts your dealing with. i don't know about your video. but i do know that the oem s/m (that i linked above) has the facts and proper terminology for parts and working with them. if ya don't like the link. buy the oem service manuaul. it is the best tool in my tool box.

Where can I get the tools for the $120 price? Everywhere I've seen the tools it is much HIGHER!

what tools would those be? iboats likely sells the tools you need.

 

[fmalott]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

i replaced my I-R outdrive with a new one for 1500 to rebuild the old one cost just as much as buying a new one

 

[rhillman75]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

The question about the tools for $120.00 was from a prior post in this thread. I was questioning it due to the fact that everything I have seen "needed" was much higher priced than that. Now this is my terminology so follow me with this... the upper and lower unit bolts to the gimbal housing that is mounted by 2 hinge pins to the gimbal ring in which is mounted to the transom? Is that correct? Like I said that is my terminiology. The video shows the transom and the gimbal ring still attached to the boat while they are doing the complete bellows job and the shift cable. While they have the gimbal housing off, they show the upper shift shaft seal replacement in the gimbal housing. The video is based off a 96 Mercruiser Alpha One outdrive. So far I am understanding I need a gimbal puller, hinge pin tool, bellows expander, gimbal bearing install tool, bellows steel sleeve install tool, and some others I can't think of right now (don't have my list with me. My main concern with the parts is ordering the right ones. I am going directly off the serial numbers I have listed below in my profile, I was just having a hard time finding them in the vast inventory listing of iBoats, but when I typed it into Google, Mercruiser Alpha One outdrive bellows kit wording sent me to www.sterndrives.com, which showed the pretty much what I needed.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

So far I am understanding I need a gimbal puller, (a standard slide-hammer, with adapter)
hinge pin tool, (a 1/2" allen key)
bellows expander, (only for the exhaust bellows, go to the Tube, it ain't needed)
gimbal bearing install tool, (Easy to make with a bar, 'n washers)
bellows steel sleeve install tool, (with a can of Quicksilver Power Tune, only yer fingers are needed)
and some others I can't think of right now (don't have my list with me.

My main concern with the parts is ordering the right ones. I am going directly off the serial numbers I have listed below in my profile, I was just having a hard time finding them in the vast inventory listing of iBoats, but when I typed it into Google, Mercruiser Alpha One outdrive bellows kit wording

Ayuh,... You have an Alpha 1, Gen.II....

 

[rhillman75]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

Ayuh,... You have an Alpha 1, Gen.II....

Sooner or later I knew eventually Bond-o would chime in and have the answer I was looking for.

I was figuring it was a Gen II, but I wanted assurance (that was the whole ordering the wrong parts question). You guys know this better and more detailed than I ever will (that's why I stick to cars & trucks!)

If anyone gets bored at night in the near future....maybe they could pull the part numbers down I need!

That's better than my trust in myself!:facepalm:

 

[mercs4mark]

Re: Just looking for advice (talking myself into or not doing this myself?)

I just want to say that niether the shift shaft or water pump gasket are going to let water into your boat, and with that said if you where to replace those two items you do not need any special tools. So do the bellows job and get your unit back from the pirates and pressure test it yourself to see if it has a leak at all.