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Omc 800 stringer not going into gear

J

jcast2010

New member
Hello I have a 1983 searay Seville it has a gm v6 engine, the problem is that today I went out to the lake the boat ran great until one time that I stopped for a moment and put it in neutral, then when I put it into forward gear it started to accelerate and the boom, it just stopped accelerating and started to make a loud whining noise that was coming from the sterndrive, even when in neutral it was still making the whining noise, so I immediately turned it off and asked another boater to pull me to the dock. When I got home I did quick test and this is what I found:

the engine does turn the driveshaft
with engine off and in gear, the propeller moves freely both ways(I think this is where the problem is I read on another post that the prop should only move clockwise when in gear with the engine off.
Connected the hose turned the engine on and the whining noise was load in neutral, then put it in gear the prop moved but very slowly.

any suggestions on what to start checking?

thanks
 
Ok here is the test, In gear turn the prop if the prop turns and the ball gears turn it is the coupler.

If the prop turns and the ball gears do not move it is the shafts in the upper.

The ball gears are good ?

The stringer drive should never be run except fully down.

Post back we will go from there.
 
you stripped the spline on the water pump shaft (it transmits power from the upper to the lower)
A new shaft is around $175 and you'll also need a water pump impeller kit and some marine grease (Mercruiser Spline Grease or Castrol Pyroplex Blue)
You need to remove the drive and split it, or at least detach the lower unit if you want to do the repair on the boat sort of upside down.

The cause of failure is infrequent impeller changes - the grease on the spline washes away over the years.
 
Master mechanic said:
Ok here is the test, In gear turn the prop if the prop turns and the ball gears turn it is the coupler.

If the prop turns and the ball gears do not move it is the shafts in the upper.

The ball gears are good ?

The stringer drive should never be run except fully down.

Post back we will go from there.
Click to expand...

I did this test, with the stern down and the unit in forward gear, the propeller turns, but not the ball gear, here is a link of a quick video I took doing this procedure, thanks for your help. I will make another video with the engine running so you can hear the noise it makes. Give me a few minutes, it started to rain when I did this video, :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFE38Id1DSU&feature=youtu.be
 
hystat said:
you stripped the spline on the water pump shaft (it transmits power from the upper to the lower)
A new shaft is around $175 and you'll also need a water pump impeller kit and some marine grease (Mercruiser Spline Grease or Castrol Pyroplex Blue)
You need to remove the drive and split it, or at least detach the lower unit if you want to do the repair on the boat sort of upside down.

The cause of failure is infrequent impeller changes - the grease on the spline washes away over the years.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this gives me hope, I thought that the upper gear case was fried, here is a link of another video I took with the engine running on neutral if I put it into gear the propeller will barely move and in the water the boat would not move at all in gear. Thanks for your help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y22JeDLzI9M&feature=youtu.be
 
hystat said:
you stripped the spline on the water pump shaft (it transmits power from the upper to the lower)
A new shaft is around $175 and you'll also need a water pump impeller kit and some marine grease (Mercruiser Spline Grease or Castrol Pyroplex Blue)
You need to remove the drive and split it, or at least detach the lower unit if you want to do the repair on the boat sort of upside down.

The cause of failure is infrequent impeller changes - the grease on the spline washes away over the years.
Click to expand...

I agree 1000% with Hystat. Had the same identical thing happen to me last year. It turned out to be the shaft. Took the drive off and took it to a guy locally to repair it, good thing I did the water pump and housing was toast. If you take it off (which I now wish I wouldn't have) be very careful of that shift cable. Mine was frozen/rusted in the hole of the intermediate and the casing of the cable was split (which was also making it hard to shift all the time anyway). Found a used cable on Ebay for about $300 dollars. Get a manual, take your time and good luck to ya! -G
 
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