upper unit only? or. . .?

[jwolfie001]

I have recently been christened to the boating world. bought a boat, rained for 2 weeks, finally get it on the water and bam! the upper unit eats the gears. Its an Alpha 1 gen 1 drive. I've found upper units for sale for about$600 but is it wise to only replace the upper? I drained the oil from the lower and found shavings in the oil but did not find any "milky" oil. So in a nutshell, should I replace the upper and try to flush the lower, or get a reman unit with warranty and replace the whole drive? Also, when inspecting the upper gears, there was no oil in the upper. Could this have started my chain of events?

 

[djvan]

Re: upper unit only? or. . .?

At very least the lower must be disassembled and parts individually inspected. Special tools are required for this (which I don't have either). I did this very project a few years ago only difference was my lower was toast and the upper got the teardown, reseal/re-install.

DougV>

 

[Bondo]

Re: upper unit only? or. . .?

Also, when inspecting the upper gears, there was no oil in the upper. Could this have started my chain of events?

Ayuh,...

It sounds like the Oil Level wasn't Checked,...'cause, 1/2 Full isn't Full enough...
And,...
Yes, I'd replace the Whole Thing, as the lower will need Rebuilding Atleast....

 

[jwolfie001]

Re: upper unit only? or. . .?

Okay. I figured I would be back where I started if I didn't replace the lower too. Anyone have suggestions as to where to buy a new unit? Will the SE106 bolt right up to my existing setup?

 

[wca_tim]

Re: upper unit only? or. . .?

Yes the SEI will bolt right up. Unless you just want an excuse to buy the tools and learn how to rebuild the lower drive unit, I would just go with the complete sei outdrive, 3 yr warranty, bolt it up and go boating (aligning properly, etc, etc, etc.... of course!). The biggest problem with your original lower now... is that even if it's in good shape (stil an unknown until you get into it), it will be quite a chore and require special tools, etc.. to get the pieces of upper drive cleaned out... if it's not already lunchmeat from chewing on them when it broke.

I have an sei lower on my rig and have been very pleased with it. It shifts great, and seems well put together. One thing to know is that they don't lap the gears in the factory, so you'll have a good bit of gear whine and it will shed some metal filings (little ones) as the gears wear in wheil you go through their break in procedure. I changed the drive lube every few hours of running until it came out without metal in it, but that wasn't something that they said was necessary...

Hope this is helpful.

OH, on ordering the drive. If you chose to go with the sei, you could see if they sell them here to support the forums, etc... if not I ordered mine from sei last year.