1989 3.0 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

I'm new to boating, so any information is probably useful! I have a 89 Bayliner Capri 21' Cuddy with a 3.0. I was on the river when I heard a light vibrating noise. I thought it was no big deal because the night before I put caps on the battery and they weren't too tight. I drove just fine for about 30 minutes and at one point I gunned it and I heard a loud sound. I killed the throttle and slowly brought it back up. The boat was moving very slowly and then eventually, the prop stopped spinning. I checked the prop and the bolt holding it was loose. I tightened it and still nothing. I recently learned (through reading forums) that I should not be spinning the prop when the trim is up, and I have been doing that often because the river gets low. Any suggestions of what it is and what I can do? Thanks.

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

i have an 89 omc 4.3ltr and had possibly the same problem this year vibration and then no drive i ended up finding that when you put it into drive with engine off the prop will not lock into forward or reverse i removed the leg and manualy shifted it and it locked up fine eventually i found the engine coupler splines were gone and had to replace the coupler now fine

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

djshawnc said:

I'm new to boating, so any information is probably useful! I have a 89 Bayliner Capri 21' Cuddy with a 3.0. I was on the river when I heard a light vibrating noise. I thought it was no big deal because the night before I put caps on the battery and they weren't too tight. I drove just fine for about 30 minutes and at one point I gunned it and I heard a loud sound. I killed the throttle and slowly brought it back up. The boat was moving very slowly and then eventually, the prop stopped spinning. I checked the prop and the bolt holding it was loose. I tightened it and still nothing. I recently learned (through reading forums) that I should not be spinning the prop when the trim is up, and I have been doing that often because the river gets low. Any suggestions of what it is and what I can do? Thanks.

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How high did u run it trimmed up? The vibration that u heard may have been the u-joints. Running with the drive tilted up too high stresses them. Pull the drive & inspect the u-joints. Sounds like they dynamited.

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

Smell rubber burning in the engine bay, and the temp went up probably the coupler, engine got to come out.

Put a spare prop on and run it in the water if it goes ok then your lucky it's the prop that went, and when it happened that should have been your first move if the temp did not go up and you didn't smell rubber burning.

So say the new prop don't fix it then the drive got to come off anyway but check the drive oil first, if you see a ton of little pieces then the drive went.

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

should not be spinning the prop when the trim is up

That really depends on how high you had it trimmed up, does the boat have a trim gauge? Most of the time Bayliner did not put these in. Anyway you should not be running the engine period in gear or neutral if you are trimmed way up, the u-joint driveshaft is turning all the time while the engine is running and that puts extra stress on it.

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

It does not have a trim gauge, and I have now learned (the hard way) that I should not be spinning the prop with the trim up. I didn't smell rubber, and I don't think the temp went up. I have never opened up a drive before. I am mechanically inclined, but is checking the u-joint something that I could most likely do?

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

I don't think you quite get it yet. The drive shaft is spinning all the time when the engine is running therefore it's not good to run it when trimmed way up in gear or out of gear.

I don't understand your statement about the prop, you said the bolt was loose, the prop should be held on with a big washer and a nut and then a cotter pin, if the pin is missing it's a wonder you didn't lose the prop.

Using the picture for reference, the red circle is where the oil drain screw is that was previously mentioned, carefully remove it slowly and stick your finger over the hole or you will have a big mess (put a container under to catch oil), the screw has a magnet to catch metal filings, very small filings can be normal but any big chunks and you've got serious problems.

To check the u-joints you don't need to tear the drive down, only remove it from the boat. Put the drive all the way down and make sure it's in neutral. First disconnect the trim rams, the nut in the yellow circle has to come off (both sides) and then the shaft slides right out, carefully lower that end of the trim rams. Next the nyloc nuts in the green circle (3 on each side) need to come off. Then you slide the drive out, have a board to sit the skeg on and it's good to have another pair of hands to help, the drive is not real heavy but can be awkward. If you get that far you will also want to do some other maintenance checks as well such as the gimbal bearing and the shift bellcrank area and the drive shaft bellows.

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

When I unscrewed the oil drain, it was full of small shavings. Later I discovered some chunks that were about 2-4mm. I took the drive off of the boat and did not see anything noticeably wrong with the U-joints (not sure if I would). I could post pictures of anything if it would help. Otherwise, I can get a lower drive unit for a reasonable price, is that a route I should go? (Almost the entire drive is apart.)

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

When you say " I can get a lower drive unit for a reasonable price " do you mean just the lower half or the entire drive??? You've got damage in there somewhere since you have those chunks on the magnet, means the entire drive has to be torn down due to the common oil passages so a used one in good shape might be the way to go for you.

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

djshawnc said:

When I unscrewed the oil drain, it was full of small shavings. Later I discovered some chunks that were about 2-4mm. I took the drive off of the boat and did not see anything noticeably wrong with the U-joints (not sure if I would). I could post pictures of anything if it would help. Otherwise, I can get a lower drive unit for a reasonable price, is that a route I should go? (Almost the entire drive is apart.)

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Take the top cover off the drive & look at the upper gearset. If there are pieces gone, it's toast. Question. Did u recently refill the drive with gear oil, & if so what procedure did u follow?

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

The upper gearset looks fine, and it spins smoothly. Also, i did not add any oil, but when I took the top off, it was full.

Re: 89 OMC outdrive not working after grinding noise

Well, if the upper gearset is ok, then it's time to pull the drive, tear it down & inspect the clutch dog, etc. That's the only way to find out what happened. Sorry.