Logo

OMC stringer tilt problem

ragtopmann

New member
"My previous post:

Last wee


"My previous post:

Last weekend I had my Sterndrive get stuck down while the boat was in the water. I had to trailer the boat and drag it up the launch ramp in order to remove the clutch and raise the stern manually. Unfortunately my trailer sits very low and you can imagine the sound that it made while it created a new groove in the concrete. The tilt motor engages but simply spins at a very high pitch. Anyone have any ideas what could be the issue. Your comments will be appreciated.
1985 Glastron SSV177
http://www.classicglastron.com/85gl-ssv176-177.html

****UPDATE****
I finally got around to pulling out the shaft bar that leads to the tilt. Looks as new. I then pulled the tilt motor. Prongs were broken off. this explains the tilt motor spinning freely. My new question is with the tilt motor out, I can only lift the stern drive when I loosen the gear box plate. When I put the plate back on, it gets so tight that the stern drive locks. could this have been the problem that caused my tilt motor to crunch? If so, can I use 2 or even 3 gaskets seals for the gear box housing? I may make my own seal using a seal kit. This could definately help. Thanks."
 
"I always use 2 "gaskets&#

"I always use 2 "gaskets" under that cover. You will notice in the parts book, they aren't actually gaskets at all...they are called shims. It's the o-ring that does the sealing. The shims determine the free movement of the clutch assembly.

Always carry a 9/16" wrench in your boat. You can hang over the transom and remove the quadrant gear (3 bolts) if it fails again, and then you just pull the drive up with a rope and tie it."
 
Thanks for your help. I'm

Thanks for your help. I'm sure the gear clutch is what breaks most tilt motors and bars. I just got done putting the gear cover back on using 2 shims. Its a world of difference now. This trick will definately help my next tilt motor last! Thanks again.
 
"I just found the problem to m

"I just found the problem to my OMC Stringer tilt issue and thought I would post it in case anyone else has the same issue.

My tilt was only working sometimes. It would get stuck, click, work when it wanted until it finally broke the prong off the tilt motor itself. I replaced the tilt motor with a brand new one. Went to try it and I just got a single click each time. Still no movement with the stern. Decided to completely dissassemble the Gear housing. Everything looked great until I got the very last piece, the large center cylinder toothed part that goes all the way through the back of the clutch housing and out the other side with the gear attached. It had a piece of metal broken off that was floating freely in the back of the clutch causing it to jam. I never saw this floating debris when i took the cover off since it was way in the back. Problem discovered!"
 
"Oh and by the way, i went thr

"Oh and by the way, i went through 2 tilt motors in less 2 weeks before my last post. My jammed clutch issue was breaking the prongs off my tilt motors. Luckily I never damaged the long bar that connects to the tilt motor. Still looks brand new."
 
"Hello all,
After looking at


"Hello all,
After looking at my tilt clutch housing, the last person to reassemble it put a very thin gasket in. What type of "shim" material is being doubled up to get the required spacing. can I just use two pieces of the standard charcoal colored gasket material?

Thanks in advance."
 
"Hi Chris,
I'm in the mid


"Hi Chris,
I'm in the middle of re-packing my clutch today.
I made my own gasket using the create your own gasket material from Autozone. Its thickness is about 2 of the OMC gaskets here -> http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=90463F

I do have a major question though. I can't seem to apply enough pressure to put the snap ring back on. Do you have any helpful tips for this?
Thanks,
John 832-273-1866"
 
"Hi John,
I recently encount


"Hi John,
I recently encountered that same problem in my boat repair endeavor. I was able to replace the snap ring on my clutch pack by using a very large C-clamp and a socket that was large enough to fit over the clutch shaft but would still catch the snap ring. A very LARGE C-clamp is necessary for the pressure and the leverage. Then for leverage in compressing the C-clamp use a box end wrench on the T handle of the C-clamp and give it all ya got! When you think it's compressed enough peck around the snap ring with a screw driver and hammer to make sure the ring seats itself under all that pressure. Worked for me. Tilt still doesn't work but I also need to change my pack.
Good luck,
Robert and Dana Bradley"
 
OMG! I did the SAME exact thin

OMG! I did the SAME exact thing. I stopped though because I started to damage the plastic screw on the other side of the gear. Did you encounter the plastic screw begining to crunch? I may as well continue using that method since the damage to that plastic screw has already been done. I may get lucky and get that thing to snap!

So what exactly is going wrong with your tilt? I've pretty much read ever blog on the net. I may be of some help.
 
"No crunch heard. As far as it

"No crunch heard. As far as it not working, pretty sure my clutch pads are just shot. Not going to mess with it again until I get the impeller mess straightnened out. Any tips on that?"
 
"Adding an update for anyone h

"Adding an update for anyone having similar issues with their OMC tilt clutch. Found that these clutches tend to lock up and break either the tilt motors or the shaft because of a free floating device deep inside the clutch housing that gets off track. Almost like a metal crayon looking device. The only way to get to this is to take every single piece of the clutch out. A trick i used when repacking the clutch was I raised the stern (supported by some wood) just enough to allow the crayon looking metal to be horizontally level. with the stern all the way down, this piece will not be level and be extremely difficult to repack properly and cause more lock ups. This is also what causes the housing cover to get too tight when not used with 2 gaskets. I found that after rebuilding it properly, I didn't need 2 gaskets. It was that crayon bar causing the entire mess cuz it was off track. Sorry for the bad choice of words but I don't have a mechanics vocabulary."
 
Back
Top