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More than I can chew

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searain

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"I just bought an 1984 Skipjac

"I just bought an 1984 Skipjack 20'. It has a chevy/Volvo Penta 225 engine with a VP280 outdrive. I took it out last weekend for the first time and had it on the ramp and in the water and couldn't get it to go into gear - it just wouldn't shift. Pulled it out, detached the shift cable and it shifted manually from the outdrive so I replaced the cable. It shifted a little hard/stiff but was otherwise fine (sidenote: I reattached it funny and now forward is reverese and reverse is forward, not sure what went wrong there, any thoughts?).
Took it out the next day and ran it around for about an hour no prob. This past week I rebuilt the carb (it was backfiring and shot flame at me) and got her ready to take back out. I went out today, got her in the water and guess what? Won't shift into reverse. What could have happened in the past week? I pulled it back out of the water, took it home and took a look at the outdrive (since I didn't think it would be the brand new cable and I don't think it's the shift control lever) and it seems that the reverse latch pawls are frozen (and corroded) onto the reverse latches and connecting rod. At this point the manual says to completey remove it from the boat to get to the intermediate housing. Is this necessary? Should I be checking something else? Should I take it to a shop? I've rebuilt a lot of engines, just not anything marine, am I biting off more than I can chew?"
 
"First, get hold of the Seloc

"First, get hold of the Seloc or Clymer manuals for the engine and outdrive (Seloc is better). If you don't have them or don't want to buy them, this pdf manual will help regarding the outdrive:

http://www.mybayliner.co.uk/boatmad/280285290.pdf

When you installed the new shift cable, did you reinstall the locking tab (part 35) to secure the cable to the intermediate housing?

http://www.volvopentastore.com/INTERMEDIATE_HOUSING_DRIVE_275/dm/cart_id.6574004 24--category_id.332183--list_time.1206228724--session_id.308985330--store_id.366 --view_id.315444

For the shifting to go the other way around (ahead when you want astern and vice versa) you either have installed a propeller that turns ahead opposite to the original (i.e. if you had a left handed prop you have installed one that is right handed, or vice versa) or you have installed the control rod 18 in the wrong place (i.e., if it was originally starboard side, you installed it port side, or vice versa).

To set the neutral, adjust the cube part 39. (all numbers refer to the above intermediate housing parts link)

Regarding the reverse pawl, if all the parts are there, just free them with WD40.

Don't worry, you'll get it working again, but it may take some patience and a bit of frustration (been there, done that)."
 
"Yes I secured the plate to ho

"Yes I secured the plate to hold the cable to the intermediate housing and I am pretty sure that I did not attached the cables correctly to the control mechanism (it is a piece of crap). I tried spraying ZEP45 on the parts and it is a no go. I used a spring loaded center punch and that hardly budged #53 and 55 in the second link above. Also it appears that I am missing the springs #59 and #50 and that the rod #51 or #54 is fused to #43 on both sides. I can't belive the rod is $50!!!! I have some scrap stainless and a lathe in my garage and am pretty good at cutting threads so making my own is simple. Here is a pic of the area of concern and as you can see I tried removing these parts without removing the outdrive:

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"Looking at the pic I have onl

"Looking at the pic I have only one comment:
Split the drive and do it properly or leave the boat on land.
Without the latch system working properly, taking the boat to see is a security risk to other boaters as You will never know if it will hold in reverse or not. Reverse is Your main 'brake', and You hopefully does not drive Your car without brakes."
 
"Rita, I agree with Morten tha

"Rita, I agree with Morten that you should not be running the boat in that condition. However, you shouldbe able to rebuild it. A set of springs (aftermarket) costs about $15

http://www.marineengine.com/parts/part_details.php?pnum=SIE18-6523&returntopage= sierra_marine/sierra00837.htm

and I personally would advise you that you purchase an original pin (part 51) that seems to be missing, because it is made out of hardened stainless steel (I, too, have a lathe and I would never consider making one). The reversing pawl is a somewhat complicated mechanism to put together first time you do it, but the good news is that if you maintain it correctly you will only have to buy the springs and pin just once (my first boat with VP engine came without that pin and with broken/missing springs, too). BTW, that missing pin is not threaded, as far as I remember its only grooved at the sides.

I would still try to soak the reverse pawl mechanism with WD40 and hopefully it will move without having to disassemble the works. However, if you intend to keep the boat, starting with a full overhaul would be the way to go (then you know the real condition). Looks like the previous owner did not maintain the boat very well (we see lots of those horror stories in the forum), but the good news is that once you bring it back to a good standard it should last you for a long time."
 
"Thanks for the advice, much a

"Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I bought a subscription to the Seloc online manuals and have started looking through them to see what parts I should replace in a complete overhaul. Where is the best place to purchase items I can't get through this site? I'm going to clean and salvage what I can. It looks like a lot of work, but it will be worth it if I know that it's right and it's going to last me.

El Pescacdor, you are right, I'll order the rod to do it right."
 
"Rita, if your outdrive is in

"Rita, if your outdrive is in bad condition, sometimes is better to just get another one (or part of it) if the price is right. Sometimes you can get a whole direct swap outdrive in decent condition for $500-$700, as many people are repowering from I/O to outboards and pods or simply scrapping old boats, and in that case you can save a lot of money and work. Many of them come on eBay for auction, so it's worth keeping an eye on what's available. I don't know in which area you are located, but sometimes getting parts from a Volvo Penta boneyard or through the local buy & sell paper will save you a lot of $$$. Also, there are online sites like

http://www.sterndrive.com/

where you can get both used and new VP sterndrive parts, but they are not cheap.

Good luck with your project."
 
"I'll check out the link.

"I'll check out the link. When I checked the lower unit oil after running around in the bay for about an hour at 22mph the oil was perfectly clear with no signs of water in there. The only part that doesn't look good is the reverse inhibit unit.

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Are there any red flags that might indicate that it is not worth it to deal with this outdrive? I plan to pull it this afternoon and get it down to the 3 units. I see there are some inspection points like measuring the runout etc. Should I measure these (I have a dial test indicator that reads to .0001).

I was looking at part #54 when I asked about making it myself. If it was stainless then it must have been 17-4PH because of the rust and it is magnetic."
 
"I would be mostly concerned a

"I would be mostly concerned about corrosion in the intermediate housing or lower unit, then another red flag would be the presence of filings or sludge in the oil, or internal pitting/corrosion. If the outdrive sounds good and looks good (with the exception of the reverse pawl) and is clean inside, I would just install a new set of gaskets. Of course, it would not hurt to take some measurements once the outdrive is apart. You probably have an idea of how it sounds by now, as you have been running it."
 
"I got the outdrive off with a

"I got the outdrive off with a little difficulty with the helmet bushing and hinge pins. I made a stand out of some 2x4's, screws and some gorilla glue. Seems to work fine and is pretty darn sturdy.


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