Hole blown out of upper gear area - merc 260 alpha gen1

[fstarocka]

My buddy bought a boat last month - the PO stated "it will do 50mph all day" on the ad.

2nd (short <5miles) trip back he hears a clacking sound from back.. lucky he was going slow inside break water.

Calls me up for a check, at first I thought perhaps lower shift cable had been set wrong resulting in the gears not engaging.

After doing some peeks inside moved to outdrive, noticed a 1/2 square hole in top facing aft -

Took off upper cap, gears worn down and oil is filled with bright shiny silver paste. One blew a hole right thru upper casing (!)

Could bad u joints cause this, improper alignment?

thanks

[jeepbluetj]

New outdrive time. Or at least tear it down and fix it. I'd doubt it's bad U joints, that's usually pretty obvious by the rhythmic nature of the sounds. Water in oil or just a bunch of ground up gears? I'll stick to "new outdrive time." There's generic replacements for pre alpha outdrives that are much less expensive than 'real' Mercury parts.

I dunno of any 260 that'll do "50 mph" all day. The one I use regularly (fresh engine, new outdrive) tops out at about 30kts (22 ft Skipjack). Comfortable at 25K. Hell, I'm a sailor so that's wicked fast for me.

[fstarocka]

hi yeah thats what I figured.. just looking at the special tools list on boatinfo alone is enough to strongly consider.. i dont mind tackling it - perhaps without all the tools.. I did redo my camaro rear diff so bit of exp with lash, patterns and all..

I might be able to get my hands on a SEI lower unit.. I think there is prob more damage below in the drive/gear area than high up at the top - only 2 bearings and a shaft vs a lot more moving parts down below..

Any tips on a diagnosis - pulling it 2moro

[Captsteve53]

Re building out drives is usually a specialized requirement, saying that with a repair manual it is possible to do, issues are: things like preset loads on bearings /gear face loading's (use of shims) bearing blue to check alignments of gears interfaces, all noted in the manual along with special tools required (quite a few required), I went to a one week school for this-to give you an idea of the complexity), if not correct they will last a few weeks and blow up(especially for High Performance units)

We changed to Konrad Driveswhich provide all sorts of models to suit OMC/Merc/ Volvo etc, The Konrad Drives(Made in USA) are used in nearly all the top racing boats due to their bullet proof construction ,

To note they recommend ROYAL PURPLE lubricants to which we converted to and halved our failure failures (running 60 out drive units)once we converted to Konrad drives the failures virtually stopped.

Konrad Marine Stern Drives

Fully Synthetic Motor Oil & Synthetic Lubricants | Royal Purple

Cheers Steve

[hobopacket]

Find a donar boat? Often you can hunt Craigslist and find someone that didn't winterize or had a old rotten out boat. Sometimes even for free. Most of the time the outdrive just needs the pump, oil, and seals.

[fstarocka]

yeah were looking around.. theres a freshwater one for 550 complete right now for 550 - vs 1300 for a rebuilt SEI - bit of a tough call.


Will pre alpha/mr/mc/alpha uppers and lowers all mate together? Dont mind mixing and matching -

[Cheechako]

As I remember most outdrives are not intended to be run with them tilted up. Maybe that was it? Hard to say for sure. $1300 for new vs an unknown for nearly half might be a good choice. The salvage boat idea might be good. Outdrives seem to always need work though. Definite weak spot. Gambler? :>)
Yeah, small powerboat sellers should be taken with a grain of salt. When I bought one several years ago several said "rebuilt" engine. I started asking if they had receipts. I usually got an answer like "well the guy who sold it to me said the previous owner had it rebuilt" hahahaha

[fstarocka]

exactly lol - bought a ford kent motor that was "rebuilt" - popped valve cover, one rocker adjusting nut was broken off lol - only paid $200 for the whole car AND motor (which I did rebuild)

Yeah im a bif of a gambler, my buddy is too lol - but still on the fence lol.. at least ball is in his court.. since hes now very aware of the risks involved he can at least make a decision knowing the ri$k$ involved

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by fstarocka

yeah were looking around.. theres a freshwater one for 550 complete right now for 550 - vs 1300 for a rebuilt SEI - bit of a tough call.

$550 asking. Hit em with $300 and if they balk, walk!

[fstarocka]

picked up he freshwater unit - looking good! upper seals were leaking (or sth else) so doing a re-seal/clean/etc..

prob do a test rive 2moro-