switzer master

Iv'e got a 89 switzer with a bravo one, I was trolling along and the out drive made a bad clunk, and wont engage now in forward or reverse. the cable and shifting system seam to be smooth, in gear i get a little resistance, kind of sounds like metal rub, when i turn the prop, and in neutral its free, I suspect the clutch went out, gear lube looks good and the gears dont apear to be chewed in any way. any other ideas b4 i dig furthur into it?

excursion

The only way too know is a complete tear down. Good luck, hope it is something simple.

smokin' gun

iTrader: (30)

ill bet its the drive coupler

switzer master

so it doesn't sound like something simple, which i kinda figured on, this coupler, is that the point where the drive shaft connects to the motor? the best course of action would be to remove the drive and look around? in gear the prop is able to go both ways with just a little restance. thanks for the tips sofar.

Mr Gadgets

I believe the coupler he is referring to is the one between the upper and lower housing, that connects the vertical shaft in the lower to the vertical shaft (clutch shaft) in the upper.
The easy thing to do would be drop the lower and see if the coupler is ok, or not. If it looks intact, then twist the vertical shaft, should make the propshaft turn. If that is good then your problem is in the upper, and needs to be opened up. When u do pull the lower, look for metal chips on top of the vertical shaft bearing. If there is metal there, then the whole drive needs to be inspected.. Let us know what u find..

D*ck

smokin' gun

iTrader: (30)

no not the coupler between upper and lower its poss the 1 on the back of the engine its a simple test shift drive into forward or rev turn the propeller and have another person watch the input shaft on the inside of boat if its turning you need a drive coupler ive replaced many and its very common if the shafts dont get greased regulary also ck your prop hub that could be bad also

tuffenuff355

coupler

switzer master

I can feel the drive shaft turn inside of the boot when i squeaze down, and it does feel solid while turning. I took the back cover off and the clutch there is doing its thing. so I am assuming I need to remove the drive to get at this part? does this coupler like a woodruff key on a lawnmower engine or something different? Is this fairly easy to do, Im pretty mechanical.

Mr Gadgets

Fastek is correct, the engine coupler could be toast. And looking at the back of the engine you can see the shaft going into the bellhousing. If it turns when drive is in gear then it is the engine coupler.
If it doesnt turn, then it is in the drive. Good point Fastek!

Not sure what you are speaking of "I can feel the drive shaft turn inside of the boot when i squeaze down, and it does feel solid while turning." Are you reaching up into the transom assy and squeezing the bellows? If that is the case, then it looks like Fastek hit it!!
Motor will have to come out to change it, or at least partially removed.

switzer master

it is the coupler, just about to lift the motor out of there, good call guys. any good ideas on why it may have broke, the motors main bolts wern't tight, would that do it, the back two bolts to the out drive are tight. havent looked at it yet so I cant tell wether its old or newer, motor was replaced with mpi recently, by previous owner. i'm barrowing the alighnment tool from the local shop I deal with