Upper gears stripped

[swift1]

Good day all. Been following this forum for quite some time and have picked up a ton of great advice. Now I'm looking for some more before I take my boat into the shop. I am mechanically inclined, but far from professional, so would like some opinions on my issues here.
I have a 1997 3.0L Merc with an Alpha 1 drive. Was out last weekend towing the kids when I heard a couple of clunks - could feel them through the hull as well. This went on and off as I headed back to the launch, then turned into a constant clattering noise. Should have tried to get a tow at this point, but I limped into shore and trailered home. Pulled the drive off and the bellows was full of gear oil. Gimbal bearing seemed fine, turned smooth, bellows seems ok as well - no water, just the oil. I inspected the u joint and there appeared to be some play as well as a grinding noise. That's when I pulled the top off the upper and saw the pile of metal shaving and the stripped gears.
So, would the oil leaking into the bellows cause the gears to fail like that, and would a bad seal cause the oil to get into the bellows? Aside from replacing the u joints, gears and all seals, is there anything else I should be looking at? And finally, do I need to tear down the lower unit as well to ensure no metal shavings got down there.
Sorry for the long post, just need to see what I'm getting into before I make the decision on myself or dealer for service! Thanks very much.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Upper gears stripped

Was out last weekend towing the kids when I heard a couple of clunks

This went on and off as I headed back to the launch, then turned into a constant clattering noise. Should have tried to get a tow at this point,

Eagh.... You were pretty much screwed at the first clunk.
Yes low oil in the drive (as half your oil is in the bellows, and not the drive) will most certainly cause gear failure.

You need to pull the manual from the "adults only" section. Your upper needs a complete rebuild and the lower needs to be torn down and inspected carefully. The upper and lower share the same oil so there is a good chance you have heavy shavings in the lower.

A 97 isn't to too old but you may want to look into SEI replacement drives. If your going to do this job yourself, by the time you buy the tools and the parts you can buy a new drive.

Welcome to iboats

 

[swift1]

Re: Upper gears stripped

Thanks for confirming what I expected. Strange thing is, my resevoir was still reading at the safe line, so there was no indication that anything was wrong until the noise, maybe there is a blockage in the resevoir line. I had looked at those SEIs on ebay and the price did seem very reasonable, but I think when you add shipping, brokerage and duties to bring them into Canada, I may be better off getting the work done on the drive I have. The u joints I was fine with changing, but a complete rebuild I think I'll leave to the pros. Any idea as to how many hours of labor I should expect?

 

[swift1]

Re: Upper gears stripped

Good call Bubba - looked into the parts alone & depnding on what I need it could be as much or more than an SEI unit. From the little research I've done on them, they seem to be getting pretty good reviews. I checked shipping with the company, and was surprised at how reasonable the charges were, so it looks like that's the way I'll go.
Also called a few shops and yeah, busy season right now so no promises that they'd get to even look at mine anythime soon.
(btw Bubba, first purchase after the boat was the manual!)