Mercruiser 3.0 won't "lock in"

[tr@v1s]

I guess even a tragedy is considered entertainment...
It might go along with explaining why your drive was empty of lube.
I was married to a very emasculating, demeaning, bipolar, evil woman for 14 years. Somewhere around year #7, I was doing the end-of-season maintenance on the boat; winterizing, oil changes, etc. I had just finished draining the drive when it started up with one of it's emasculating, demeaning, bipolar, evil rants that I needed to get inside an hour ago and attend to whatever it was that was far more important than what I had already been doing... probably change my daughter's diaper, since this procedure was beneath her.
Anyway - I'm sure that led to a whole evening of suffering, after which I had totally forgotten that I never filled the drive with oil.
Fast forward to next spring, and that pretty much was that.
At least it has a happy ending... several years after our divorce, she died of ALS - probably one of the most evil, insidious, torturous, protracted deaths one can suffer through.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Excluding the ending, I can relate and one of my best friends right now lives in this world every day hoping he can change her... Sorry you had to endure that. Hope your daughter was not too terribly scarred by all that.

 

[tr@v1s]

I personally have never had a drive I maintained let go so I have never used one. you got the idea keep and eye on the lube level and water intrusion while using it in season. unless its moored in the water it takes 10 min to open the lower and upper plugs to confirm you are good to go.

Even then not sure it makes total sense but I like to be self sufficient maintenance wise.

These are my issues as well. I've never been good at throwing stuff away I could fix... but that's also how I ended up with so much crap I need to fix!! lol

I actually enjoy getting back into working on boats (and other stuff), so I may want to get the specialty tools so I have them for working on other boats. I've seen a lot of good boats going to waste because of some fairly simple motor/drive issues. As we talked in another post, if I am able to fix those items on good hulls that simply need mechanical/electrical repairs, might even be able to make a little profit. (I know...but let me lie to myself for now.)

 

[tr@v1s]

Agree
I have a lot of tools but needed get special tools which cost more than $700 just to rebuild the lower Bravo 3.

Ayuh,..... Just buying the proper tools to rebuild the Merc drive, costs more than buyin' the new SEI drive to replace it,.....

I have access to and can run anything in our machine shop at work (I was the only 'machinist' for 4 months while our machinist was out for shoulder surgery). Is there some place I could find drawings for the specific mercruiser tools that would be more cost-effective to make than buy?

Once someone has the tools, how expensive are the parts for the rebuilds on the outdrives compared to replacing the drive?

 

[alldodge]

I have access to and can run anything in our machine shop at work (I was the only 'machinist' for 4 months while our machinist was out for shoulder surgery). Is there some place I could find drawings for the specific mercruiser tools that would be more cost-effective to make than buy?

Merc paid to have tools developed, I don't see them ever publicly posting those on line. Might find them across the pond where they might have been stolen

Once someone has the tools, how expensive are the parts for the rebuilds on the outdrives compared to replacing the drive?

Depends on what parts need to be replaced. The gears are no longer made by Merc and can be found on the NET for around $300 each, could be less I did a quick look on one gear

Parts listing
https://www.mercruiserparts.com/r-mr-alpha-one-sterndrive-1983-1990-6225577-thru-0f386995

 

[tr@v1s]

Merc paid to have tools developed, I don't see them ever publicly posting those on line. Might find them across the pond where they might have been stolen


Depends on what parts need to be replaced. The gears are no longer made by Merc and can be found on the NET for around $300 each, could be less I did a quick look on one gear

Parts listing
https://www.mercruiserparts.com/r-mr-alpha-one-sterndrive-1983-1990-6225577-thru-0f386995

I guess for parts, one would hope that they could just replace seals and bearings once a seal failure has occurred if they have caught the issue before any gear damage has happened.

 

[tr@v1s]

Well, all good news this morning I think. Got the alignment tool in last night and aligned the motor. Took quite a while for me as I had to lower the front a lot more than it had previously been and I was starting to question whether I was doing things right. Outdrive took me a while to get back on mostly because it's my first time stabbing one. Got new fuel line ran and exhaust all mounted back up. Fired her up and she ran, pumped water and shifted. So, I'm calling it a win!

 

[kd4pbs]

Just in time for the weekend! Glad to read that this morning!

 

[Simoniz]

Well, all good news this morning I think. Got the alignment tool in last night and aligned the motor. Took quite a while for me as I had to lower the front a lot more than it had previously been and I was starting to question whether I was doing things right. Outdrive took me a while to get back on mostly because it's my first time stabbing one. Got new fuel line ran and exhaust all mounted back up. Fired her up and she ran, pumped water and shifted. So, I'm calling it a win!

Sorry if Im teaching you to suck eggs, and it might be a bit late now, but you are aware that the outdrive has to be filled from the bottom, by pumping the oil in, so as to avoid large air bubbles in the drive?

 

[tr@v1s]

Sorry if Im teaching you to suck eggs, and it might be a bit late now, but you are aware that the outdrive has to be filled from the bottom, by pumping the oil in, so as to avoid large air bubbles in the drive?

Yes, but (full disclosure) prior to getting into this thing I did not and did not realize the upper and lower units were connected in that way (I thought they were separately filled and sealed from each other). I did use a pump and fill from the bottom.

Oil level seems to maintain even after a very hard day of boating. Pulled three person tube for hours and everything held up great and no water in the oil. Dealing with prop now (started a new thread in the props section). I'm not getting up to 4400 rpm at WOT as I have read on here I should. Looks like I've got some testing and figuring to do and see if I need to make some changes.