Drive is dead

Jdpber · **Posted:** Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:48 pm

well last night we were on a nice little dinner cruise. 2,800 @ 37mph the bow drops and rpms race up to 4k and rising.. i pull throttle to neutral and kill motor instantly...

well got a to to our destination (the Tiki Hut at the marine) 4 miles from the truck.. got a ride to truck.. removed the drive late last night and tore it apart to find that the upper housing top gears are toast

plus i think when they locked up something in the lower unit got fubar as there is a decent amount of play im thinking 1/16 or so of play when supposed to be thousandths..

here is issue.. i can get the upper gears for $550 or a rebuilt upper complete for $700 + ship.. i can local get a reman never installed still in box lower for asking $700 offer lower cash offer.. thats $1,400 for new drive.. i could take time to rebuild the lower.. but if the lower gears both need replace and couple parts boom im at $700...

other option is $350 SEI conversion kit and a $1.400 Alpha 1 gen 2 drive BRAND NEW with warranty 3 year.. $1,900 total to the door $2,157 that is with 2 day rush shipping...

advantages.. BRAND NEW drive with warranty, available parts all over, shifting in the upper...
NEGS - MONEY, conversion, MONEY...

so $1,400 for a rebuilt used OMC or 2k for a new Alpha.. i could get the $550 gears and have a mechanic install (needs special tool that i do not have) and a $700 lower and be into the rebuild drive for $1,250

rpengr · **Posted:** Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:51 pm

Ouch!

That is a lot of missing metal from those gears, and at least some of that metal came off earlier where it would work it's way down into the lower unit as well (they share the same oil). At a minimum, I think your lower unit must be taken apart, cleaned, inspected, and re-assembled.

So I would suggest the rebuilt lower, and repair the upper OMC for $1400, unless your mechanic can work the lower unit for less than that.

If you go the Alpha I route you might have additional costs:
New propeller?
Does the Alpha I have raw water pump like OMC?

Jdpber · **Posted:** Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:12 pm

after a day of phone calls and emails and searching online.. a OMC reman upper and reman lower with a 3yr will be here 2 day air wednesday AM...

the upper drive gears alone are $550 online then my time to install... bla bla bla i negotiated the waving of the core charge, packaged the deal ship separate for lower ship cost and save on the shop, i will mate them not an issue at all.. and i upgraded from ground to 2Day and bc the seller said "free ship" bc i bout 2 items i negotiated him covering the cost of on of the units upgraded shipping.. so in the end.. i will have a full reman OD her in 2 days.. he is also taking it all direct to the FedEx HUB at airport at 9AM.. and tossing in gasket set.. i guess my wheeler dealer skills paid off..

in the end both partied were happy.. love how i said "you know you are making money off the deal and the upgraded ship is not going to hurt you" guy was like yep its not gonna break the bank and i feel your pain with the holiday and guests comming to town..

love working with good hearted americans

LouC · **Posted:** Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:17 pm

When you filled the drive with gear oil did you fill it from the fill hole near the joint between the lower and upper gear units till you got 2 qts in it? Because if you filled from the bottom most hole like a Merc Alpha it would seem to be full but actually would be about 1qt low. The Cobra takes 2qt of gear oil vs the Alpha which takes about 1qt.

Those upper gears look like it was run low on oil. The lower gears (clutch dogs) can be damaged if a sticky or maladjusted cable but for the upper gears to look like that 99% of the time they were not filled right and were low on gear oil.

Jdpber · **Posted:** Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:42 pm

oh i put 2 full quarts in all $40 worth.. i remember.. im thinking that it had ware over the life and finally the little bits of shavings or something locked up the vertical shaft and the drive shaft gear simply ate up the gears.. also the lower is shot there is play and buddy looked most deff needs a rebuild. so the lower could have locked and then caused upper to eat up. i will say this when i serviced drive the oil was clean and no particles... so all i can think is at some point something weakened the structural integrity of the drive and it was a matter of time.. all is good

i have the process tracking and they will be at the airport hub at 9 am to fly out..

Wife is happy,, i haggled a deal that i am happy with.. and i got the core charge waved and can part out the old drive and make back some money..

end of the day the 4th is not ruined

neutron · **Posted:** Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:45 am

thats good news at least you wont miss the 4th

Bliss36 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 01, 2013 8:23 am

Quote:

Wife is happy,, i haggled a deal that i am happy with.. and i got the core charge waved and can part out the old drive and make back some money..

end of the day the 4th is not ruined

Sounds like you made the best out of a bad situation! Hope you get it all back together and have a great 4th of July!

Jdpber · **Posted:** Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:32 pm

yea sat night and yesterday were kinda hectic until i formulated the solution.. now i think it is going to work out good.. tracking sais they are at terminal for departure.. and things are on schedule.. it is all about keeping the wife happy.. this also counts as her birthday party weekend. Bday is 8th.. so all must go well..

neutron · **Posted:** Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:42 pm

we are praying to the boating gods for you. can't dissapoint the misses

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:56 am

If you need any help setting up the transom shift cable just ask, I finally learned how to do this on mine....

Jdpber · **Posted:** Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:03 am

UPS out for delivery.. and buddy will be at house at 5 right when i get home from work.. 2nd set of hands will make the job go faster

Jdpber · **Posted:** Wed Jul 03, 2013 1:03 pm

Drive arrived. Rest will continue.

http://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11136&start=165

www.iFourWinns.com

Drive is dead

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