Engine coupler replacement

pstew96

pstew96

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Dec 4, 2003
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12527
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727
When removing the boats engine,a big undertaking, is it common practice to replace the coupler being that it is a cheap part that fails occasionally?
 
Judgement call, why are you pulling the engine, fit, repower, etc. I'd look at the coupler splines and see if they are worn, sharp. This occurs if the stern drive shaft isn't greased frequently, the tilt and trim will cause wear on the spline which are sometimes aluminum. If your going to increase the H.P. of the engine is another reason to start out with a NEW coupler,
 
quote:
Originally posted by Michael Clemensen

Judgement call, why are you pulling the engine, fit, repower, etc. I'd look at the coupler splines and see if they are worn, sharp. This occurs if the stern drive shaft isn't greased frequently, the tilt and trim will cause wear on the spline which are sometimes aluminum. If your going to increase the H.P. of the engine is another reason to start out with a NEW coupler,

Click to expand...


A friend of mine just had his engine rebuilt, not even 1 hour before it went...
 
I had an engine coupler fail under very light load. Idling into my marina. Put the drive in reverse to back into the slip, no additional throttle and it failed. Sometimes it just happens.
 
Yes, so it turns out that it wasn't the coupler but the mechanic claims it was an over rev'ed engine, I was present when it failed, he was cruising the state channel about 6 mph, bad rebuild I think...besides, when a coupler fails its like your in neutral and has no affect on the motor.
 
I had a coupler fail once, it was at most five years old. Apparently I wrapped a steel cable between my bravo 3 props, and i suppose it did what it was designed to do - stripped away to protect the motor and drive, I forget what the shop charged my insurance company, but it wasn’t cheap.

Why did the original engine fail ? Too many times people lose an engine due to external issues, such as bad gas ( too lean and pistons blow apart), or problem with the installation causing water to dump back in - and they replace the motor without fixing the problem - so the new motor suffers same fate. If the original engine wears out, rusts out - throw a rebuild in, and assuming it is a good motor you should be fine. But if an engine blows up prematurely, better figure out why before you replace it.

I learned the hard way never to run a fresh install off the same tank of gas that killed its predecessor.
 
He filled the tanks with new gas and I watched him stay under 3K RPMs, then suddenly a rumble and stall, turn the key and the stater didn't move at all, the mechanic said it was over reved but I know it wasn't, I was there. I hope for his sake its warrented....
 
Ouch.,did the mechanic rebuild the motor himself, or provide it - or did he only install it ? I’ve never had much luck with rebuilt motors. one that failed ( rear main seal leaked profusely) which was covered by warranty - the warranty only covered the motor, not the labor. And on that boat, the labor was not cheap.

How about some more details on the motor? If it’s a modern one, with an ecm, I believe you should be able to pull the details out of memory.

Adding new gas won’t matter so much if you have water at the bottom of the tank where the pickup is.
 
The boat is 35 years old and its a Volvo Penta, the marina took the motor out and brought it to a rebuilder who is looking at it now. I personally wouldn't have bought a boat that old as its difficult to find parts, unless you need a hobby. Anew motor would have been a better option if you could hook it up to this old boat, don't see why not considering he paid enough to rebuild this one to have purchased a new updated motor.
 
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