Upper gone bad?

redmen62

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Messages
103
Long story short, I'm trying to determine if I need a new upper unit to go with my new lower.

I lost all shifting and cooling on my port engine, everything on the inside of the hull checked out so that made it something in the outdrive... according to some guys at the marina it seems like the clutch dogs on the lower went out so I decided to switch to a counter rotating drive.

Now here's where my question comes; how do I know if my upper is bad? I have it off and have the upper and lower separated, I was putting the new lower unit on and noticed when I turn the driveshaft and u-joint assembly on the upper, nothing appears to be happening. If I'm interpreting the diagrams correctly, when I turn the driveshaft the socket (for lack of a better term) where the spline on the lower unit mates should should rotate too... or to water it down to the basics, if i spin the drive shaft, there should be something that happens


It seems as though the gears are stripped or not meshing in the upper
 

thumpar

Admiral
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
6,138
Open up the top cap and look at the gears. It is only 4 bolts. The clutch dogs don't usually fail. If the vertical shaft is still in tack the problem is in the upper since it is not cooling. The impeller is run off the vertical shaft and if the gears in the upper are toast the shaft won't turn.
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,346
according to some guys at the marina it seems like the clutch dogs on the lower went out so I decided to switch to a counter rotating drive.

They sound like "guessers" When you seperated them how much oil came out?
per thumper, remove the top cap and look inside
 
Last edited:

redmen62

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Messages
103
I tried to take the cap off and look tonight, but the heads aren't standard bolt head and I don't have the start socket they need... hence why i'm trying to get an idea what should happen when i turn the driveshaft.

Some oil came out, but it was a milky teal color... seeing as I drained and filled the gear lube in the fall, it sure seems like i'm getting water in there. Another reason I think I'm having upper problems.

What would cause water to get into the outdrive?
 

thumpar

Admiral
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
6,138
It is just a 12 point socket. You need to dig in and find out what is going on.
 

Rick Stephens

Admiral
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
6,118
Standard 3/8 12 point socket. Available anywhere.

Takes 5 minutes to pop the top cap off and look.
 
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