outdrive prolbems oil change

[1978 century]

i have a 1978 18 ft century 3.0 merc..the lower unit doesnt want to go in gear half the time...rev slips a lil bit but foward is good.i checked the cables and adj. them but it didnt really do much..from what i rember when i put a impeller pump in it that the L shaped shifter thing that comes out of the lower half was loose.is that normal?im kinda stuck in a hard place because the boat is older and i dont wanna put alot of money in a old boat, i allready got the head milled and rebuild the carb complete tune upand numerious little things but i want the cheap way out but i want to use the boat for a few years.i can get a new/reman lower half for 700 bucks.i dont really want to put a used unit in cuz i dont know how to check if the unit is in good shape.is there any gooed way to check if a used unit works god as far as the gears dont slip.any common prolbems with them ..and how do u change the oil..yea ive changed oil on other boats but this ,the oil dip stick is only a 1/4 in wide

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: outdrive prolbems oil change

There should not be alot of up & down play on that 'L'.....
Are you sure you put the ss washer over the shift shaft before you put the upper & lower cases together?
You need to examine the gear oil for signs of metal,,,,
If you have alot of shavings, you should replace the entire unit......JK

 

[1978 century]

Re: outdrive prolbems oil change

i dont rember but this started a while after i did the impeller...the oil seals went on it so water got in there and i couldnt see any small shaving, and there were no big chunks of metal ,,,my friends father is goin to fix it, if its worth fixing...i am a ase cert auto mechanic an im sure i could fix it but i dont want to spend money on the tools... i just hope it wont be to much money to fix it.. i dont want to put alot of money in it when i can get a reman lower for 700....i know it will need a reverse gear cuz it slips but the not goin into gear thing is killing me

 

[1978 century]

Re: outdrive prolbems oil change

one other thing id like to tell you guys is the quick silver head gaskets are garbage.i have my head milled and the quick silver gasket still poped and the deck was true there chincey pos...i used a felpro gasket and worked mint....just a thought for you guys