www.iFourWinns.com

I've heard of guys who had blown gimbal seals (or at least were told they did), and had two mechanics warn about trying to over-grease. Dunno - maybe there's more than one type of seal? Why do I hit a very hard resistance after about 2-3 pumps, if there's nothing containing it? Not doubting you - this just runs contrary to what I've always understood.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I think that resistance could be hardened up grease in the tube, or crud in the hole in the side of the gimble bearing...sometimes that happens with ujoints on Jeeps and 4x4s that have been used in rough dusty conditions and not greased often.

http://www.pbsboatstore.com/quicksilver ... 4AodF3QAyw

see open...grease just comes right out...don't get what they are talking about.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Pulled my drive and found water in my bellows. Small tear in my bellows. Looks like I caught it in time but I'll be replacing the gimble bearing (and bellows) this off season. It's important to inspect.

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-Tony
2016 Robalo R200 w/Yahama 200!

Previous boats:
2003 Four Winns 248 Vista - sold
1994 Sunbird Corsair 200 - sold
1980 Checkmate Predictor - sold

Yep, it is. How did your U-Joints, driveshaft, and drive oil (any water/milkyness) look?

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

Everything else was good to go! U-Joints and shaft were fine. NO MILKYNESS in my drive oil! Must have caught it, literally, just in time! WOW! Bellows were only 3 years old.

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-Tony
2016 Robalo R200 w/Yahama 200!

Previous boats:
2003 Four Winns 248 Vista - sold
1994 Sunbird Corsair 200 - sold
1980 Checkmate Predictor - sold

Anyone ever use Never Seez on the shaft and bolts? Most use marine grease, but I know never seez is good in all conditions like heat, water, etc. Its used on bigger boats for the prop shafts and other long term high temp areas, years later stuff just falls off free of corrosion with never seez.

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REM9607

Black Pearl
2004 268 Vista
5.7L Gi-E
DP-SM 1.95

2010 6.4L F250
Dream boat- Catalina 28 MK II

I have read not to use Antiseize in salt water; and in my OMC shop manual it says to use OMC gasket sealer on all outdrive bolts thermostat bolts etc. It seals out salt water and the bolts will come right out. Driveshaft splines get OMC triple guard. My boat sitting in salt water 6 months out of the year I've had a lot of experience in corrosion control. Drive comes off every year and the upper and lower gets split every other year to clean the barnacles out of the water intakes.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Normally automotive anti-seize is copper based, which when combined with an aluminum outdrive housing creates a galvanic reaction in the presence of seawater. That being said, there are marine grades of anti seize that can be used. Presumably these do not have the high copper or nickel content that automotive anti seize usually has.

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Jack
2005 268 Vista - Sold

2001 Silverton 35C 8.1L Crusaders

There is a marine Antiseize but I found it interesting that neither Merc nor OMC recommend it though.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I've got a big container of marine anti-seize; it's completely metal-free. I bought it before I owned a boat and don't even remember why now. Expensive stuff though.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I agree with the outdrive, I have been thinking of trading my fourwinns in for a cobia with a yamaha 250 because my friend has one and he laughs at all the stuff I tell him I do to my boat. He tells me he just turns the key on his.

The outboard will need less maintenance, but there is no free ride. If he never removes the lower unit, then one day when he needs to to replace the impeller, it can be a royal battle because the driveshaft will be rusted into the engine. Just like what happens to an outdrive, but there are no ujoints and gimble bearings. If you ever have to do top engine work on a 4 stroke outboard it is VERY expensive, much more so than an inboard. With the inboard, you have to accept the high maintenance requirements in exchange for lower parts prices. If you hate doing the work or paying for it then yes the OB may be better, until it needs major work.
Those of us who grew up in the 70s with small block Chevys are very comfortable with inboard and look at modern OBs as mega complex. But they do take less work....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I removed my outdrives on my 1997 Vista for the first time last year. Thats 16 years of not being removed and they were definitely stuck/corroded on big time

It took me and a helper with pry bars and a ratcheting come-along to get the drives off. The port side was MUCH more stuck than the stbd. I wish I had taken pictures of the corrosion that had formed between the outdrive upper housing and the piece that hangs off the transom. And my boat didnt spend any of its life in the water, plus we are in 100% freshwater (Great Lakes).

With that being said, removing and re-installing the outdrive is definitely a challenging proposition for 1 guy - Esp. reinstalling it. Doing it myself, with the help of a friend saved me big $$ but I dont trust myself replacing the bellows on my own. It took me what seemed to be an hour to get my port side outdrive re-installed. I finally went and adjusted the trailer jack to get a better angle and it worked. But I was nervous there for a minute..... thoughts of calling a mechanic $$$$ motivated me to try a little harder, LOL!

Anyways, after the original owner not removing or greasing the u-joints for 16 years, there wasnt much to report. I bought the boat with 90 hours on it. There was still grease in the u-joints, and they moved easily/freely. I greased the living hell out of them though. I also greased the gimbal bearing with the outdrives OFF so I could turn the gimbal by hand and distribute the grease. I also got to watch it push out the old grease visually, which made me feel better. Oh, speaking of that, on my 1 u-joint, there was rusty grease coming out of 1 of the caps. I greased the living hell out of that one too.

When I re-installed the drives, I took light grit sandpaper and sanded the sealing surfaces very lightly, just to get the corrosion off then I coated it lightly with that OMC Triple C grease stuff. Im expecting them to come off much easier this year!

Other than that, take your time and either build a stand or have a (strong) helper. My best advice.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

OK if you want to make this job easier, then you can either build a wood stand and put adjustable casters on it, like I did about 8 years ago, or spend a bit more money (like $170) and oder a drive stand from Stumpy's Fab Works, like I did last year. This one is great for the price, has easy rolling casters and a trailer jack to raise and lower the drive.
The Volvos get stuck on because VP did not use the gasket between the drive and the pivot housing like the original (Superior LOL) OMC design did. I coat both sides of that gasket with OMC gasket sealer and the drive slides right off even after sitting in salt water out here in Long Island for 6 months out of the year. You Volvo guys should coat the mating surface with either OMC Gasket sealer, or a nice coat of OMC Triple Guard Grease. I even coat the threads on the studs that hold the drive on and the threads on the trim ram rod (as per OMC shop manual). And every single bolt I have ever removed on the drive (impeller bolts, anode bolts, the bolts that hold the upper and lower together). And they all come out. So listen to the master of salt water when it comes to corrosion control lol.....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Don't get Lou started about barnacles tho, lol....

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X