Definitely look at that steering pin or you will be tearing it all down again soon... It's money well spent now. It's a common problem and if you catch it early it's a cheap fix, if you wait it gets pretty expensive... Just my .02. It's the same thing Black elk is talking about.
I'm assuming you're talking about the steering lever. Old one, full right. Then pushed left without anything moving. Yeah, just a little sloppy. I actually replaced the entire gimbal with a used one from Jerry Twogood's old setup.
That one was leaking. according to tanglewild if they are full or rust they are leaking. Mine looked similiar, yours even looks rustier
Its the pin that is on the other end of that steering shaft you have your fingers on. They tend to leak. When the go unnoticed and get rusty they can be hard to get out not to mention the corrosion caused on everything else do to leaking! Put a new pin in and you will have no worries...
I replaced mine with a new transom shield and every year since I leave it strapped to the trailer and back in the launch till its under water and look in the bilge to make sure nothing is leaking. Peace of mind when you take the boat out after a few days of moorage and fishing to remove the drain plug and have no water come out.
I'm more of a slow and steady kind of guy, detailed, meticulous to the point of being anal. A retired machinist friend of mine stopped by last weekend, took about 30 second look at the motor and commented that it OCD comes in handy sometimes hu? I asked what he meant by that and he pointed to the hose clamps. They're all correctly positioned and clocked for gaining access to them once the engine is stuffed back into the well and the little flat rubber caps installed on all the tag ends. I said "thank you". I think she's ready to go back in.
These guys are unbelievable. Is there away we can make a permanent page just dedicated to sharing the pure evilness of US Marine?
Ya took mine out years ago.... When I bought my boat, this upper seal you mention was leaking. Pulled it apart and the area the seal presses into was corroded away...shit. Finally I die grinded out the area, scuffed up with heavy grit, took some Devcon Alumiweld and old seal, put it in place with using the shaft to hold position. Pulled out and then epoxied new seal in place. Fingers crossed its been holding since 2006. The old ones had a grease zirc at this location. I added one, then drilled bushing at this location and die grinded vertical and circumferance grooves in shaft to facilitate taking of grease.... Like I said, fingers crossed.
Glad it worked out for you. I thought about trying to get it welded up and rebored to hold the seal, then worried if it wasn't correct it would eat the seal and decided to spend the money for a new transom assemble. It was pretty spendy, like just over 3 grand installed.
My boat is 12 years old, 6 years ago I replaced the steering shaft as it was leaking. I see it has started doing so again. Gonna wait till the off season to address it since the boat is mostly on a trailer. Not sure if bravo drives are any different but am sure all Alpha's eventually fail. Greg let me know if you need another project once you get your girl put back together
Mine is a Bravo 2 and it failed. I bought a new stainless steering shaft online for the next time mine starts leaking. For some reason Mercruiser didn't use stainless on the original ones.
New engine is in the well, just need for the rain to go away and a couple of nice days to get everything hooked back up. Oil, then prime the engine, power steering fluid then bleed the lines, coolant, fuel, trim/tilt fluid then bleed those lines, trim tab fluid then bleed those lines, and finally outdrive gear oil. Thanks Todd for the assist!
Outdrive installed and nearly finished with the electrical connections on the motor. Battery hookup to the starter, lift cylinders and start adding fluids tomorrow, maybe, if it doesn't rain.
So it rained... Trim/tilt cylinders installed, battery connections made, engine oil primed using the starter, 40psi on the dash gage, fluids added. Saturday I'll Bleed the hydraulics, add some fuel and see if she will start. Then bleed the power steering and top off the fluids again.
Well, Murphy (not Jamie) showed up yesterday while I was working on the boat. Got all the fluids in, batteries connected, 20 gallons of fuel onboard, ready to turn the water on... oops, outdrive stuck in the full up position, trim pump appears to be dead. Pulled the rear lift cylinder shaft to manually lower the outdrive, got water on, turn the key and got a couple of sputters and coughs before the batteries quit. Decided to pull the trim pump, cleaned and works on the bench. Reinstalled the pump, dropped a screw and a nut into the bilge. Started fishing with duck tape on a stick because they're stainless and won't stick to a magnet. Finally retrieved the dropped parts, finished connections and restored hydrulics, still need to bleed the lines, two man job. Installed battery charger in engine compartment and let charge all night. It's a new day - hopefully Murphy has somewhere else to be today.
Reel-laxation is running again! Dock trials revealed a minor glitch with a faulty shift interrupt switch, but she's running smooth as silk. Have a few minor items to finish on Saturday then ready for sea trials on Sunday to begin the 20 hour break-in period.
