I was out this weekend having a ball towing my son around on his new tube. I went to put the boat in gear to go home and nothing! No forward or reverse. Called Sea Tow, which I'm not a member, and payed 400 bucks to get towed back to the ramp. Now I'm gonna sign up for the 95 bucks a year to join! Oh well. But anyway the guy looked at the boat and said it was the coupler. I only have 200 hrs on this 98 260. To make matters worse I'm leaving on vacation in less than 2 weeks and we bring the boat! I remember I think Jan, had his replaced. Why did you do this? Is this a common thing? My mechanic said he'll have me back together in time, but you know how that can go. Anybody with input about this? How much should this cost? I was gonna do this myself, but I'd need the alignment tools to do it right. I'm sort of venting right now

Gary, I replaced mine due to the stbd motor mount locking tabs had never been bent down around the adjustment nut. Motor was almost sitting on the stringer. Replaced with the merc hi-po coupler(steel splines versus aluminum) and had a merc oil change kit installed since the motor was being pulled. only 209 hours on my boat.

COST-500 for coupler, 50 for quick change kit and 300 to pull motor.


JAN

Thanks for the reply Jan. I'm gonna check into the Hi Po also.He's quoting me 150-200 for the coupler, I'll have to double check, that sounds like a standard one. I don't want to do this every 200 hrs. My engine looks a little off sitting in the bilge, could be my imagination though. I took the back seat all apart so I should save some labor to get the motor out. That's a good idea for the quick change kit! Thanks!

I also removed my backseat to save on labor. $200 sounds a little to cheap, make sure it is not a used coupler. Best price I found on a standard coupler was from BAM at $365.60 list, and $311.94 discounted price.

Jan

Last week while I was @ Lake Cumberland, KY. A freinds 24' Cobalt 7.4 also spun his coupler. He has right at 500 hrs. I assume it is a sacrificial part and 500 hrs was not unreasonable. But 150-200 hrs sounds like serious misalignment.

My 02

I had a coupler go bad in my 97 260 at 50 hrs. It didn't let loose, but it vibrated a lot. The dealer took care of it. I sold the boat with 275 hrs last year and that was the only problem I had with it.

The couplers ONLY blow if your engine is out of alignment or you have a lot of HP and I mean a lot. They will never blow with a stock motor that is properly aligned.

I dropped the boat off this morning. He said he was gonna get the steel one not the aluminum. Brand new mercrusier coupler. We'll see how much it is, at this point I just want it fixed by July 3rd. Wish me luck. I'll keep you guys posted.

http://www.cpperformance.com/product...elines/141.asp

$289.95 USD

They will blow out if you are trimmed up way too high and gun it (like backing off the beach)
This has happened a few times (esp after a few boat sodas) to one of our members.
Beware.