stern drive rebuild?

[rcwjona1]

I have a 1981 mer cruiser 228 305 motor. The trim is loud, and linkages are tight. I put oil on the linkages hoping they will work themselves out, but was wondering if there was anything to do about the trim. Also I was think about a winter project rebuilding the stern drive. I have the original stern drive on the boat not sure if its every been rebuilt before was wondering if I should think about going new. If I was to go new could I hook up with my 1981 merc motor?

 

[jtybt]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

What are you referring to as 'linkage'

 

[rcwjona1]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

where the cable's hook up for forward and revers I think the one going into the bell housing.

 

[myoldboat2]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

What do you mean by "rebuild"? Just replacing oil seals, bellows, water pump, etc might make sense. Replacing gears might cost more than an aftermarket drive.

 

[jtybt]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

Try removing the end of the remote and lower cable anchor points on the shift interrupt switch and see if your problem is in the remote cable or the lower shift cable.

 

[rcwjona1]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

well I was wondering if it was smarter to go the new route because of the grinding sound when you tilt the stern drive up and down. the prop works nice. If I was to go new does anyone know if a new model stern drive would hook up to an older model mer cruiser 228 305.

 

[rcwjona1]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

hay I know this is off topic but would it be hard to do to switch my stern drive to a jet drive?

 

[erikgreen]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

Not impossible, but really, really hard.

Boats are built to use the drive systems they come with. For a jet drive you'd be talking about a full rebuild of the hull to fit the jet, and even then it wouldn't perform as well as a purpose-built jet. Plus the conversion would cost more than just buying a jet boat.

You can get a jet outboard for outboard boats, but it doesn't perform like a jet boat, it just lets you run the regular boat in shallower water.

Erik

 

[jtybt]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

rc,
If you have grinding when trimming, you have a lot more problems.
Start going into detail what's going on.

 

[rcwjona1]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

its like metal to metal when driving almost like a dry baring. lounder when you go up and down.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: stern drive rebuild?

its like metal to metal when driving almost like a dry baring. lounder when you go up and down.

You have a few questions here - probably better to start a new thread for each question. The dry, grinding sound is not normal - it sounds like either the gimbal bearing or the u joints. How far "up" are you going? You shouldn't trim up very far - not beyond the trim limit switch area - not up in the trailer position. Pull the outdrive and check the condition of the bearing and u joints.