So, I'm fixing up my brother's bayliner, and I've replace the water pump impeller (over heating). Now on to problem 2:

When on land (and running on house water) it starts/runs GREAT. 5.0L V8 that's one year old. idles perfectly, will rev up and makes a glorious noise.

It will sit at 4,000 RPM all day happy as can be.

Took it on the water, when you hit 3500 RPM (maxs out at 4600 RPM WOT on the water)

CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK,

that gets progressively faster with higher RPMS starting at 3500...which is really annoying...

I removed the lower unit from the boat, expecting to see some damaged/missing u-joints... they both look just fine... I did tear the stupid gasket, so I guess I need a new one of those.

It's an Alpha I drive, and seems to be in okay shape for a 1995... but it's all original from 1995... when it had a 3.6L V6 in front of it... now it has a 5.0L V8...

Do I replace the -joints? ($40+$10 ship for 2) or do I take something else apart? F/N/R all seem to work fine...

Thanks for any help!
It's also for sale if anyone near Harrisburg, PA wants a boat!

any guesses, taking any guesses at all?

I'd like to get this thing working!

thanks.

I have no idea and based on the responses neither does anyone else .
Appears you inspected the U joints?

But...I would guess the upper gearbox...The upper bearing is susceptible to poor lubrication if any water in drive and overheating if no drive shower. Any excess metal stuck to the drain plug ? You can pull the upper cover..not sure you can see much- the torque is low for the 4 bolts..at reassembly. The stack up and pre-load is critical and requires special tooling from memory...
I blew an upper gear case and had some ticking previous to failure ...but it was short lived

I will give it a try Wednesday if I get a chance.

That was my next guess, but I don't really want to take stuff apart I don't have to...

thanks.

What if it's the engine?

this engine has been overheated to the point of water in the oil at least 2x now.

the u-joints and vertical shaft of the outdrive unit spin any time the engine is running, right? because the F/N/R is handled by the lowest part of the lower unit.

is that correct?

so, is this clicking due to load and not the outdrive?

If its been overheated that many times with water in the oil I woulnt trust it. With the motor being replaced with a bigger version I would check alignment & look at the input shaft to see if the splines have sharp edges as in no lube sorry to say but for sale sounds like the best option

Gimble bearing maybe, has that been checked, they make a heck of a noise when they go bad..