[OMC-Boats] My outdrive reseal saga from BLDFW on 2009-05-23 (OMC-Boats Mailing List Archive)

From: BLDFW <bldfw@...>
Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 19:40:03 -0700 (PDT)

I removed the outdrive from the boat this afternoon with the help of a friend and a cherry picker. It was pretty easy to do.

Then following the instructions, I set about seperating the lower unit from the upper but ran into a challenge. First thing I noticed was the o-ring on the drive shaft cover plate. It was in the grove as normal but it seems the o-ring was able to move side to side in the groove. Shouldn't the o-ring be snug in the groove? I suppose the replacement seal kit will answer that question.

The biggest problem holding me up is the Truarc ring that holds the lower electric shaft in the housing. My o-ring pliers were insufficient for the job so I went to Northern Tool for one that would do the job. After much debate with a friend over several on the rack, we naturally bought one that was about 3/16" too short to match up with the holes. Don't ya just HATE that? I'll go back in the morning and see if I can get the right one and try again. That ring is going to be really tough!!

Anyway, I took some pics of the transom and of the outdrive and will post them shortly to get some feedback on the ball gear. As mentioned earlier, I'll likely replace it since I'll have it apart already.

-Bill
Dallas, TX
1970 Evinrude Explorer - 155 Buick V6 - OMC sterndrive
http://www.photobucket.com/evinrude_explorer

----- Original Message -----
From: BLDFW
To: Evinrude & Johnson Boats of the 1960's and 70's
Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 12:32 PM
Subject: [OMC-Boats] Possible Impeller Problem - Round II

OK, it looks like I have a water circulation problem for sure.

I started the boat again this morning and as discovered last night, no water circulating at all now! I did see at the bottom of the tub some small rust pieces blown out through the exhaust. Also noticed on the topside rear (closest to the transom) of the lower fin (it's not under water), some fresh oil spots, presumeably from the upper unit somewhere. Thoughts on where that might have originated?

In reading through an OMC 64-86 PDF manual I found online somewhere (I think from the iBoats forum) it looks like I have to remove the entire outdrive to check the water pump. JEESH! Nothing is ever easy!

Last time I had someone reseal the outdrive on my Bayliner, it cost me $1600 (first boat ignorance).  I'm not quite so willing to drop that kind of money when I have the common sense and time to do it myself (not to mention being a tad on the frugal side).  If I have to go through that effort, I only want to do it ONCE.   At least I can see for myself what condition the guts are in.   I'm also thinking that if I have to go through all that, I may as well replace the ball gears which show signs of normal wear. ETHAN, didn't you replace ball gears on your Explorer at some point?

Anyone undertake for themselves a full rebuild or at least a full reseal?   Any words of wisdom?

-Bill
Dallas, TX
1970 Evinrude Explorer - 155 Buick V6 - OMC sterndrive
http://www.photobucket.com/evinrude_explorer

----- Original Message -----
From: BLDFW
To: Evinrude & Johnson Boats of the 1960's and 70's
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 9:41 PM
Subject: Re: [OMC-Boats] Possible impeller problem

Thanks Andy,

I think my problem is the water pump/impeller in the outdrive. It stopped pumping water up into the manifolds. I'll take another look in the morning. I'll run it and see if it pumps water again or if it's hosed for good.

-Bill
Dallas, TX
1970 Evinrude Explorer - 155 Buick V6 - OMC sterndrive
http://www.photobucket.com/evinrude_explorer

--- On Fri, 5/22/09, ANDY PERAKES <aperakes@...> wrote:

From: ANDY PERAKES <aperakes@...>
Subject: Re: [OMC-Boats] Possible impeller problem
To: "Evinrude & Johnson Boats of the 1960's and 70's" <omc-boats@...mate.com>
Date: Friday, May 22, 2009, 4:37 PM

#yiv1596048503 #yiv95996181 #yiv1264377340 P {
MARGIN:0px;}

There's any number of potential reasons, everything from "the mouse nest broke lose and plugged the port" to marginal parts finally giving up the fight. I don't know what the others have experienced, but my '67 Reveler has two weak points: about every 15 years I need to replace the alternator and water pump. I've noticed the water pump retains a lot of "wet" inside and even though it has a brass impeller, the bearings, housings and seal seem to get "chunk rust" build-up. I last changed my pump about 8 years ago and started pulling the hoses off the pump housing in hopes that it might help slow down the rate of degradation, but I'm still within the 15 year window so I don't yet know if it has helped. I do know if you need a pump and/or gasket you will have one heck of a time finding one. If I remember right, I paid $380 for my last pump, then later bought a spare for $190 that I luckily stumbled upon in a clearance sale. I've heard some
people talk about using the auto pump and just plugging the heater core hose, but I'd be very cautious with that route unless you know the flow rates and pressures are the same. Also, the auto unit runs in engine coolant which has corrosion inhibitors and other stabilizers so it may be more apt to fail in an environment void of that protection. As I recall, the mount interface is slightly different too so you'd need to make modifications that again expose you to more potential failure modes. Before you pull your pump off the block (and likely destroy the gasket), I suggest you pull the hoses and look/feel around inside to the extent possible. If you can feel the impeller is loose or see lots of garbage in there, that will be a pretty good indicator you need a new pump. If it looks clean and tight, I'd probably look elsewhere first. If needed, you can make your own gasket, a process that will be much easier if you can keep the bulk of the
existing gasket in tact to use as a pattern. Btw, I last replaced the alternator about 6 years ago and used one of the retrofits that has a built-in voltage regulator. So far it runs fine and I have not experienced any trouble with it.

----- Original Message -----
From: "BLDFW" <bldfw@...>
To: omc-boats@...
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 4:04:50 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [OMC-Boats] Possible impeller problem

I got my new exhaust hose installed and cranked her up again. I let it run about 10mins monitoring it closely. When I first started it I pulled the hose off the rear manifold where the water is pumped up from the outdrive in a good steady flow. I watched the temp gauge (160d thermo) but did not see any discernable shift.

I closed the engine compartment just to hear how she idled with it closed. When I reopened the air felt a bit warmer than I would have thought after running only 10mins or so. I started feeling hoses and the hose on the right side from the outdrive was hot while the hose on the left side was mildly warm. Of the hoses in the front, two were getting hot and the other two warm but not really hot. I pulled the right side hose from the outdrive to the manifold again and this time no water pumping. Duing this time, the temp gauge had only gotten to about 115-125.

Why would it pump at first and then not pump after a few mins? Seem to work fine yesterday. I will have to pull the water pump for sure.

Thoughts, insights, lessons learned?

Thanks.

-Bill
Dallas, TX
1970 Evinrude Explorer - 155 Buick V6 - OMC sterndrive
http://www.photobucket.com/evinrude_explorer

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Received on Saturday, 23 May 2009