Slight twist in vertical shaft splines. Noticed it when ready to mate back to upper after skeg repair and repaint. Run it or repair?

Running 502mpi's in a 380 PowerQuest

REPLACE. Its looks like more than twist with some visible cracks.
I've put one back on that some twist, but not as bad as yours.

Cory,

I don't really know a DAMNED thing about the intricacies of outdrives, but I agree with Griff. You're starting to see some shear in those splines, not just twist. Just from a failure analysis standpoint, it's time for it to go.

Thanks. Brad.
(937)545-8991

I guess it would depend on if your seatow membership is paid up, you will need them with that shaft

Is that just a swap out part, or reset up shims? How many hours labor should I expect?

The entire house will be disassembled to get to the bolt that holds the gear on the shaft
https://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/...30967/1943/220

Need to check shims and or change, I would guess a couple hours for someone who does it a lot

Edit: might find other things that need replacing once inside and things a measured

I can guarantee that the gears in the upper will fail soon have them checked. Ask me how I know.

I had a couple that looked just like this seems to be a weak spot. need a fast arm

Well, this would have happened three years ago and close to 200hrs of use. Would have never known, had I not pulled lower to have a skeg welded. Now hopefully, port drive is ok. It was fresh with new gears and bearings 3yrs ago.