Stern drive

[liboater]

"I have what I believe is one

"I have what I believe is one of the old Alpha drives on a 1989 boat. I'm getting a loud low pitch whine, which I belive is probably coming from the drive. This happens whether in gear or not. My neighbor was over recently and he said he thought he could hear my "center bearing" going. This was the week before I noticed it. What's a center bearing? 2nd question: If I replaced this drive, could I increase the ratio to give me more top end speed?"

 

[scott_s]

""center bearing" is c

""center bearing" is called a gimbal bearing. it is mounted in the transom assy. you need to remove drive and remove with a slide hammer, or special puller. be prepared to find water in the u-joint bellows, and bad u-joints. changing ratios would lower RPM, and result in worse performance. check it out, and post under mercruiser. this area is for outboards."