Knocking in outdrive

"I have a 1971 pre-alpha outdr

"I have a 1971 pre-alpha outdrive.Yesterday when I was hooked up to the waterhose, I noticed a knocking sound coming from my outdrive.It sounded like it was coming from the upper unit.I was hping to find out what this could be a symptom of.Thanks in advance for the help. Bryan"

"U joints bad, or bad upper ge

"U joints bad, or bad upper gears.
You shud pull the drive and inspect everything including the U joints, gimbal, coupler, bellows.
If these check out OK, you can pull the upper drive cover and visually inpect the gears.
Turn the input shaft by hand and feel for any rough spots in the input bearings also.
Rod"

Thanks Rod.I took the top cove

Thanks Rod.I took the top cover off and looked at the gears and they looked good.A little low on oil.I thought you were out of touch with civilization until September.I appreciate the info.Bryan

"bryan;
Much to my surprise I

"bryan;
Much to my surprise I can connect up on the local phone line on "snailnet". Slow, but it works.
If the gears are good, that's great news. Next suspect would be the U joints. You shud pull the drive and inspect everything including the U joints, gimbal, coupler, bellows. Turn the input shaft by hand and feel closely for any bearing irregularity.
Any play at all in the U joints, and that's your problem. You can chnage them yourself without special tools. All you need is a vice to act as a press. Hint: Make sure you have an extra "C" ring.
Rod"