Need advise on bringing a 92 beretta succsess 200 back to life.

[*Rsf*RedNeck]

I've never owned a boat and always wanted one. A buddy at work got a new one and said he had an old pos that he didn't want to deal with anymore I could have for 1000 bucks. He thought the motor got hydro locked and towed it in a week before i picked it up. It came with a dual axle ti trailer in great shape. The boat is a 1992 beretta success with a 4.3 Mercruiser. the outdrive is an omc cobra.

I got it home and pulled the plugs and sprayed some wd40 down the holes. I put in a new duel purpose battery and tried to turn it over. It turned very slow but I didn't see any water come out. I got a new gear reduction starter and installed it. It turned over nice and fast and shot the wd40 out. I checked the compression and all cylinders read right around 160 to 170 psi. I put the plugs wich looked new back in and after a good amount of cranking it fired up and idled good. I ran it for a bit on the muffs and shut it down for the night.

Then the next day I came out to work on the rotten wood on the deck and decided to hear it run some more. It fired right up and idled smooth and after about 5 mins i started hearing a grinding sound from the outdrive. Before I could shut it down I heard a clunk and the motor abruptly died. Not sure if it matters but I never put it into gear. After reading these forums for a while I decided I better pull off the outdrive and see it'll run for a few seconds without it attached. It fired right up and idled good so I shut it off. Next, I pulled the top cover off the out bored and was surprised to see the gears were bone dry. The gears look to be in good shape but the big main bearing on the drive shaft looking thing has came apart locking up the driveshaft.

All I know about boats I've learned on here and by looking at it myself, so i don't know much. I am a decent mechanic having rebuild my 1985 4runner that I use for hunting. I've done a frame-off restoration on it, a body swap, and figured out a way to replace the 22re with the 3.4 out of a Tacoma. So I'm not a complete idiot. I haven't looked at the lower section but I'm hoping I dodged a huge bullet by only frying the big bearing. Any advise greatly appreciated.

 

[*Rsf*RedNeck]

im hoping i didnt Potty-Mouth up the gears or anything in the lower end since i didnt put it in gear. any thoughts?

 

[Bt Doctur]

being a 92 guessing its a cobra drive that was run with no oil and needs replacing

 

[Rick Stephens]

You did not dodge any bullets.

 

[*Rsf*RedNeck]

ive done some reasearch and am going to get a bearing and seal kit for the top end. if i take apart the bottom and it has oil i may be able to just rebuild the top.... i assume?

 

[Lou C]

no one can tell you that because you have no idea how long it was run low on oil and keep in mind the oil flows freely between the upper and lower gear housings and that means the wear particles from the upper gear failure are all throughout the drive also wearing the lower gears and bearings. So....you might be able to use what you have there as a core, not sure what special tools are needed to do what you want to do...I've had a Cobra for 18 years but never had to do any mechanical repairs to it only seal replacements. The challenge with these is finding someone who knows how to work on them and still has the tools needed. When built right and maintained properly they are very good...

 

[kenny nunez]

Hopefully the lower half is still good. Did you take the Lower gear case drain screw out? Most times when the upper bearings seize up you find the propeller shaft seals the reason. The special tools needed to repair the upper can be found but you will be better off swapping the upper for a rebuilt unit.
While the drive is off replace the driveshaft bellows, it is easy and all you need is a 1/2” Allen wrench and a screwdriver .

 

[kpg7121]

When you refill it use the middle plug on the drive, not the bottom drain plug. Fill from the bottom & you'll grenade it. While you have the drive off, you may as well replace the gimble bearing & grease the u-joints. Hopefully, you won't find a lot of metal in the lower half because if you do you'll pray hell getting it all out.

I just looked at your pics. You have a project boat because it appears that you have a rotten stringer. I would drill test holes into that transom. If you find wet shavings you have a major project on your hands. Good luck.

 

[Lou C]

that's the reason why some people have ruined their drives, they fill it like a Merc and then the only thing they filled is the lower unit. Most Cobras take 32 oz of gear oil so you should be getting in at least 2 qts in. If you are going to be working on this find a shop that can do the parts of the job that require special tools if you can. Other wise your options are:

buy a rebuilt Cobra use that as a core
convert it to a Merc alpha using the SEI kit
convert it to a Volvo SX using the volvo conversion parts

#2 is probably the cheapest option, #3 the most expensive but probably the best long term plan

personally for me I'd do #1 because I'm well versed in maintaining the Cobra having had one for 18 years! As long as I can get parts.

 

[*Rsf*RedNeck]

Thanks for all the input guys. I tore it all apart and was relieved that all that had happened was the big bearing on the driveshaft had come apart. The lower unit had oil. Top didn't. I cleaned everything up real good and replaced both the top end bearings, replaced all the seals, and put it all back together.

Once I attempted to fire it back up, the damn thing would run for 10 seconds and die. I unhooked the fuel line going to the pump and put in a fresh 5 gal jug of fuel and it started to run longer, sometimes as long as 5 mins. Then it stalls. I ordered a new fuel water sep. and am going to get it in a couple of days. I wanted to keep going so I took the old one off, rinsed it with good fuel, primed it, and put it back on. I drained and cleaned the tank and put everything back together.

I don't know Potty-Mouth about boats but I'm learning fast. When it would run off and on I got the feeling the water wasn't circulating properly. The risers weren't suuuuuper hot but did seem too hot. I took the impeller housing off and found the impeller was coming apart. I backflushed the system and installed a new impeller and housing using grease this time lol.

At this point, I can pump the throttle once or twice and it fires right up. It will run at high rpm (2k ish) starts to idle down some and then dies. If I pump the throttle twice it'll fire right back up and run for a while, but it always seems to die at some point. I used that time to make sure my water is circulating and everything seems perfect. Risers are cool, water comes out of the vent tube, and the exhaust comes out cool.

In my opinion id assume my next step is going to have to be to rebuild the carb. I don't have good luck with fixing carbs but at this point I get the feeling the choke ain't working like it should. I have also noticed that most the time when I hit the button on my throttle to try and rev it without engaging it usually starts to engage anyway. fun times. I look forward to more input as I train myself to be a boat mechanic lol.

 

[*Rsf*RedNeck]

Almost forgot. I found this guy tapped up dangling behind my motor. Any body know what it is? Thanks. I cant find an oil pressure switch to save my life.

 

[Bondo]

Almost forgot. I found this guy tapped up dangling behind my motor. Any body know what it is? Thanks. I cant find an oil pressure switch to save my life.

Ayuh,...... Welcome Aboard,...... Looks like a whip for a stern light,.....

Yer runability issue sounds like it's runnin' outa gas,.....

 

[*Rsf*RedNeck]

so new filter and see if fuel pumps going out.

 

[Bondo]

so new filter and see if fuel pumps going out.

Ayuh,..... That a great place to start,.....

The fuel pump should put out 4 to 6 psi, for a carb,....

 

[PITBoat]

I have also noticed that most the time when I hit the button on my throttle to try and rev it without engaging it usually starts to engage anyway. fun times. I look forward to more input as I train myself to be a boat mechanic lol.

Are you talking about engaging the gears? You may have a controller I know nothing about, but you gotta pull the ones I've seen out to the left to rev w/o shifting.

Lou said 2qts on the gear oil, but I think he meant 64oz (not 32).

 

[Lou C]

Yep 2 qts. The oil pressure sending unit is screwed into the rear edge of the block right next to the distributor. The connector kinda looks like the trim sending unit wiring but I’m not 100% sure on that. Might want to check and probably replace your anti siphon valve on the gas tank and I’d probably also pick up a new gasket for the tank sending unit so you can remove the sending unit and look inside the tank to see if it needs to be cleaned out.

 

[jerryjerry05]

To rebuild the upper gear case you will need
special tools.
You might be ok to just replace the bearing,
You'll need to get the factory service manual
to be sure.

 

[*Rsf*RedNeck]

I did replace the bearings on the upper unit. all seems to be ok there now. I took the fuel sender off and drained the tank. I got all the junk out and have fresh fuel. now it idles high for a about 3 mins and then idles down and dies. i got my fuel seporator today and am going to install that and will soon have my kit to rebuild the carb. i dont know much about boats, but there is a trigger on my shifter. it says on it to pull to keep boat in nutural. when i do that the gears engage anyway

 

[Lou C]

Looks like you have the same engine as I do but you have a Rochester 2bbl carb. Is your auto choke working correctly? It should close most of the way or all the way and then the vacuum break should pull it open a fraction of an inch when the engine starts. Does your control say OMC on it? If so you pull it towards you to be able to advance the throttle with it still in neutral. Some you pull towards you some you push in a button in the center of the control. On inboards with carbs the choke is automatic but the fast idle must be set with the throttle control. With no fast idle with the choke on cold engine it will stall for sure. Carbed engines need a fast idle to keep running with the choke closed like 1200-1500 rpm on the tach.
post up a pic of your control....

 

[*Rsf*RedNeck]

thanks for the info on the throttle ill check it tommarow. it seems to me the choke is working as you described. im going to run some sea foam through it and see what happens