old outdrive what should i look for

[lake erie monster]

i have a 1987 bayliner ciera 2550 with a 5.7l v8 and omc (cobra i assume) outdrive. the previous owner neglected a lot of stuff on this boat and im guessing that the outdrive was also neglected. i would like to know what would be good to inspect and possibly replace on the outdrive. i was planning on removing the outdrive and taking back home after winterizing the engine, so i could do what ever needed done. it seemed to slip out of gear this past year but i was told that could have been because of the bad prop that i had on it but still not sure.

 

[chconger]

Re: old outdrive what should i look for

Hi

Pressure test it, replace any seals. Replace the impeller so you know. Check for metal on the lower magnetic drain screw. You can open the top, look at he gears there directly for any obvious wear (others here probably have more to say what looks bad)

Check that it turns true and smooth.

Other than that, I would put a known good prop on and see if it runs OK.

You can also take it completely apart, measure everything and put it back together to spec. Re-paint the casing. Become an expert and show us pictures as you go

 

[lake erie monster]

Re: old outdrive what should i look for

i was thinking of taking it apart and posting pics

 

[bruceb58]

Re: old outdrive what should i look for

i was thinking of taking it apart and posting pics

Unless you have water in your gear oil, its not necessary to pressure test.

If it slipped out of gear, I highly reccomend changing the lower shift cable and using the 2 special tools required to adjust it properly. They can be bought on ebay and Amazon. If the drive continues to clunk out of gear, then you do have a bad dog clutch which was caused by the bad shift cable and then you would have to change it.

I would not be pulling apart the drive until you absolutely need to do so. You need specialty tools to put everything back together and will cause more problems than you fix if you don't.