chuck32

alright gotta question for you guys. took the heat out today for a quick run on the lake had it cruisin pretty good and all of a sudden rpms went thru the roof like i kicked it in neutral, i cut motor off asap then looked at outdrive linkage to make sure it was goin in gear and it was then started it back up, kicked it in gear and it was goin nowhere, the propeller wasnt turning but i could hear somthin spinning by propeller.my first question was is the outdrive tore out?its an xr drive supposed to only have 100 hrs on it?how do i tell?

blownhammer2000

iTrader: (1)

you may have spun the flow torq hub on your prop, simply remove your prop and the center hub will slide out, it should be sort of square looking, if its round then its gone, check the basic things first, sometimes it is something stupid

Jay Gadsby

If you put it into gear with the engine off, try spinning the prop. It should not spin. If it does, then it may be the hub. If the prop shaft turns with the hub and the propeller, then you may have other issues, like internal issues.

Steve Zuckerman

Chuck,
I'm with blownhammer. Sounds like you spun the plastic hub insert. This does have one good advantage, in that it will blow if you hit debris, or a submerged object, rather than damaging your propeller or drive.
However they do not hold up well in performance applications. Hopefully you didn't damage your motor when it over revved. Add a revlimiter if your motor doesn't have one.
I would check the prop for damage, and replace the likely blown black plastic insert with the metal one.
Just remember to watch out for debris, because there is nothing to "give" in the prop or drive if you hit something.
Regards,
Steve

chuck32

well prop and shaft spin while boat is in gear took the lower unit off and pretty sure the gears are ate up.now what?not sure why it broke it dont think i hit anything.whats the power limits of an xr?wonderin if it may have been low on oil didnt seem like it had alot in it.this sucks!not sure if this boats for me may be bigger than i needed.

Steve Zuckerman

Chuck,
There is a small rectangular plastic reservoir on the engine or transom that has drive oil in it. It should read close to the full mark.
It's going to be hard to tell what the level was now if you have taken the drive off or apart.
Sorry to hear about your headache. Mercury Racing rates the XR drive at 600HP. Several of us are running a lot more through them.
You are probably getting ready to take your drive to a Merc or aftermarket HP shop. We don't know where you are located since you didn't fill that out on your profile. If you tell us where you are located, I am sure someone here can recommend a reliable service shop to check your drive out.
Steve

chuck32

im just outside of louisville ky

chuck32

so you have the 2 shafts on the lower unit,what else is in the upper part of the outdrive that can tear up?

Chico&Zeus

Low oil in the reservoir bottle should have gave him an alarm.

You say the gears are probably torn up... do you have metal flakes in the oil? Have you pulled the case apart to look at the gears?

Could be drive/engine coupling stripped. I know that you said prop and shaft spin... but I've seen it before where coupling was tight enough to spin the prop on the trailer but as soon as there was a load like the boat in the water the coupling would just spin on the shaft.

Revd Up

Upper gear set is the weak link. Take off the back cap on the upper and you will be able to see the gears. You should know right away. Probably lots of metal chunks and pieces if its bad.