[OMC-Boats] Another tilt problem

Unfortunately I have to join the ranks of folks on this list having
problems with their tilt system...

Has anyone here pulled apart the actual tilt drive shaft on an OMC
sterndrive ('70 155 hp)? I'm talking about the longitudinal shaft that runs
from the tilt motor through the firewall and along the top of the tilt
clutch housing. My tilt stopped working yesterday afternoon after a day of
diving. The tilt motor is still spinning, but the worm gear is not moving
at all, so the drive was stuck down.

I suspected a bad hammer-blow coupling, so I pulled the motor and coupler
out from the inside, but it looks fine. The motor looks and works okay as
well (a bit of corrosion, due to water leaking in throgh the tilt housing),
though it does turn slightly faster in one direction than the other when
tested unloaded.

My understanding is that a slipping tilt clutch would still allow the worm
gear to rotate, so if the worm gear isn't turning, then the only
possibility I can come up with is that that longitudinal shaft has failed.

The "flat-blade drive" on each side (motor and shaft) is intact (motor
clearly is, the external shaft feels okay, but it is a tough reach; I will
look with a mirror this afternoon when I'm not working in the dark). Are
there any other couplers in the external shaft? It's hard for me to
believe the shaft would've sheared - it seems like it would've failed at
one of the couplers. The other possibility is that the hammer-blow failed
in some way that isn't visually apparent, but I don't think there's even
room in there for it to spread apart.

I was just wondering if anyone on this list had pulled that shaft out. I'm
concerned that it might be difficult to get back in or to reseal the endcap
(which doesn't seal anyway - I'm pretty sure that's where water leaks in).
I can't decide if I should put it all together and try it again before
further disassembling things (the safe choice, but very annoying
considering how difficult it is to get the tilt motor in and out), or just
pull it apart and confirm that everything else is okay (also probably
better for the motor, since it seems to be the fragile component, and
repeated installation can't be good for it).

I presume the procedure is to take off the sector gear (so the clutch
housing can rotate freely), remove the retaining ring at the end of the
longitudinal tilt shaft housing, then rotate the tilt clutch to "spit out"
the worm gear shaft?

Ethan

-- 
<a href="http://www.engr.wisc.edu/~brodskye/"> Ethan Brodsky </a>