Old Merc i/o diagnosis

[PNW Driver]

I bought a 1969 Reinell 19' with a 4 cyl gm motor from a guy at work for 200 bucks. It belonged to a professional mechanic before him that also is a coworker. The mechanic rebuilt everything in 1996 but the last guy ran it and parked it. I am not sure which model outdrive it has. The engine wouldn't turn over and we determined the cylinders were free. Then we popped the top off the outdrive to take a look and found zero lube and rusted gears. The bearing on the top of the vertical shaft was frozen. We added lube and cranked the motor(no plugs) with the top off and everything rotated fine with the top off. Obviously, the top bearing has to go. I am thinking the larger bearings holding the gears as well. In addtion, there seems to be corrosion damage and I wonder if I will need a new outdrive all together. Any help would be very much appreciated as this is my first boat and I am learning as I go along

 

[mkast]

Re: Old Merc i/o diagnosis

Get the drive rebuilt, any reputable place will give you a year warranty.
About $500.

 

[brian_mcwhirter]

Re: Old Merc i/o diagnosis

Why don't you see if you can break that bearing loose and/or replace it. Top it off with lube, see if the drivetrain works properly (forward/neutral/reverse), and if by chance it does, drain and refill the lube until no more gunk comes out, and water test it. More likely you might want to look at a replacement or aftermarket drive. Good luck!

 

[boatguya1]

Re: Old Merc i/o diagnosis

Get the drive rebuilt, any reputable place will give you a year warranty.
About $500.

You're getting drives rebuilt for $500 with a years warranty? No "reputable place" around here will do that. The oldest flat rate book I have is for Alpha I
and it says 4.0hrs, that doesn't leave much for parts. And that's just the upper.

James

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Old Merc i/o diagnosis

Yeah, I don't see getting out of that repair for $500. If the drive was rebuilt in 96 (13 years ago) I would suspect everything is going to need servicing along with repairing the damaged parts; transom reseal, lower unit inspected and resealed, upper unit repaired/resealed.

My 73 SeaSwirl had the same thing done to it before I bought it (complete reseal and upper unit repaired) and the bill was around $1500,,, 15years ago.

The damage you are seeing is from a lack of maintenance, bad seals in outdrive or bellows leaking,,, allowing water intrusion into the drive. Rebuilding that drive seems cost prohibitive to me, unless you do all your own work,,, but then do you have all the special tools required? If I'm not mistaked, a SEI drive will fit (have to check with SEI) and will run around $1200 for a completely new drive with a 3 year warranty. Or scrounge a used drive off Ebay and hope you get one that does not have problems Either way, you will be looking at a transom reseal; bellows, shift cable, gimble bearing, etc...

 

[meesh]

Re: Old Merc i/o diagnosis

I'm not sure but I think SEI does'nt make a replacement for a drive that old.

 

[PNW Driver]

Re: Old Merc i/o diagnosis

Is this Alpha or pre-alpha?