Stuck Drive Unit

[Reyone]

Hello! Looking for some help. I own a 2008 Chaparral 224 SSX with a Volvo-Penta 5.0 Gx-J. Transom Assembly SX_Alt-32 and a DPS_A 1.95 Drive unit.

This boat has been pretty good to me. Have gave me more than a decade of fun and good behavior. Very little repairs needed if any. Just maintenance until now. Have to lift the engine, leak from the oil pan. The SELOC repair manual is telling me that although not necessary, but highly recommended to remove the Drive unit.

Here is the issue; I fallow all the steps indicated on the manual to remove the drive unit. Bolts, hydraulics cylinders, throttle cable etc. Read and fallow the instructions several times. But the unit does not want to come out. Used a technique from You tube, recommending to us the boat own hydraulic to push it out. Nope. I even use a small tractor to try to pull it (very carefully of course). Nothing. It pulls back by hand a bit under 1/2 inch. If I apply "extra" force about 1 and 1/4 inches.

A boat mechanic told me that, could be so much corrosion inside that is making it harder to pull it out.

I have attached some photos.

Any ideas??? Tips, recommendations, etc.

Thank You

R

 

[Denny]

I am no mechanic, and know absolutely nothing about the newer stuff. But I know on my older Mercruiser outdrive, you have to push the throttle all the way in forward in order to remove the drive.

 

[Reyone]

I did try, but going to verify today and try again. Thank you for the tip.

 

[Denny]

 

[Iggy]

Another season I went with full in-board unit. I hate to say that , but true.

You should replace the bellows since the drive is off. Even if it does not need it due to all the work just to get the drive off.

Good luck with it!!

 

[Denny]

There are advantages and disadvantages no matter which propelling system you choose.
I thought that this makes for some good reading.

• TIMELINE
• HISTORY

Back to History
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The sterndrive conspiracy​

MerCruiser was not the world’s first commercially viable sterndrive, but it could have been.
The first “inboard/outboard,” or sterndrive, was introduced by Johnson Motor Company in 1930, but the need to redesign most boats to accommodate the new system resulted in poor sales.
Many years later, the official story of how the modern sterndrive was eventually introduced held that a former Kiekhaefer Mercury engineer, Jim Wynne, overcame the inherent design difficulties by introducing a double universal joint that allowed the drive to swing back and forth for steering, and tilt up and down. The result was an engine and drive with the maneuverability of an outboard and the power of an inboard.
In reality, it was the result of a covert plan that worked. The design Wynne patented in 1958 actually originated when his former boss, Charlie Strang, sketched it in 1948 as a young boat racer and MIT engineering student with hopes of breaking the outboard speed record. He envisioned a lightweight car engine with an outboard lower unit and hoped the American Power Boat Association would recognize it as an outboard for record purposes; it did not, and Strang moved on.
Ten years later, Strang and Wynne pitched the idea to their boss, Mercury founder Carl Kiekhaefer, who rejected it. The pair, along with co-worker Charles Alexander, talked of forming their own company to bring the sterndrive to market. After a falling out with Kiekhaefer, Wynne left the company, filed a patent, and sold the rights to Volvo Penta, the entire time working clandestinely with his cohorts to fine-tune the design.
Volvo Penta’s “Aquamatic” was introduced in 1959 to great fanfare, which motivated Kiekhaefer to have Strang begin work on a Mercury version of the drive. When Kiekhaefer learned that Outboard Marine Corporation would introduce an 80hp sterndrive at the 1961 Chicago boat show, he announced a 100hp sterndrive by Mercury two days earlier, stealing the thunder of the competition.
The secret of the sterndrive’s development was one that Jim Wynne took to his grave, but it was revealed in 1991 with the publication of Iron Fist, the biography of E. Carl Kiekhaefer. Today, MerCruiser is the most popular sterndrive in the world, with nearly 3 million units sold.

A star is born, reluctantly​

Carl Kiekhaefer had little interest in the sterndrive, fearing it would cut into outboard sales, and he was right — in the long run.
“Let someone else go first, someone else try the rotten stairway,” Kiekhaefer said at the time.
When Volvo-Penta introduced the “Aquamatic” in 1959 — a design conceived by his own engineering team, unbeknown to him — Kiekhaefer green-lighted the MerCruiser Sterndrive, and true to form, exploited the strategic errors of his competitors.
While they positioned against the highest horsepower outboards, Kiekhaefer launched MerCruiser in the 110hp to 140hp range and immediately began work on a second drive that would handle 225hp to 300hp.
While MerCruiser arrived 2.5 years after the competition, by the end of 1961 it had captured the bulk of the sterndrive market with two drives and a wide array of high-horsepower engines.

Charles D. “Charlie” Strang (Mercury years: 1951 — 1964)​

“Tell Charlie to forgive me,” were purportedly the dying words of Mercury founder Carl Kiekhaefer.
Charles “Charlie” Strang served as Kiekhaefer’s top engineer for 13 years, fueling the early race for increasingly higher horsepower outboards. An accomplished boat racer by the time he entered MIT engineering school, Strang began working for Kiekhaefer in 1951, describing the seven-day work weeks as “wild, exciting, and fascinating.”
Strang resigned amid a corporate plan to oust his mentor and went on to a storied career, culminating as chairman of Outboard Marine Corporation. Strang, 93, and his wife Barbara still attend several NASCAR and APBA races yearly.
As for Kiekhaefer’s last words, it was a “Rose Bud” moment for Strang. “I have no idea what I had to forgive him for,” he said, “but it was typical Carl, not asking, but instructing.”

 

[Denny]

In 1968 I had a black Mercury 110hp (Tower of Power) on my 15ft Mark Twain.
It was a pretty thing to look at. It did 48mph which back in those days was fast for a conventional boat.
My -O-My , how far they have come.

 

[Iggy]

There are advantages and disadvantages no matter which propelling system you choose.
I thought that this makes for some good reading.

• TIMELINE
• HISTORY

Back to History
Share:

The sterndrive conspiracy​

A good story on how it all happened!

Don't get me wrong, nothing against sterndrives. I feel there is more maintenance with them. We all know what its like to own one. With a full inboard, you may have one or two cutlass bearings and a drip or dripless seal. Both need to be changed every 5 to 15 years depending on usage and setup. You do have oil in the transmission that you change out every one to two years. That can be done in the water. Sea water can't get into the trans other than from the oil cooler.

Cost of the bearings and seal are in the range of $400-$2000 depending on who's doing the work. Right now I am replacing the rudder seal, cost $150 for the seal and $40 for the lower bearing with my labor.

I believe the Sig 32 uses V-Drives which is a in-board engine setup.

Moe, Larry!!! The boat won't turn!

 

[Reyone]

,

I want to thank you for the great video. If help me confirm that I was fallowing the right procedures. I end up having to pull it with a John Deere tractor 3025E (So you have an idea how "stuck" it was). "Choke" the trailer wheels, tractor on full traction. Worked on it for about 3hrs before finally, after a big pull/drop it came out.

It have some corrosion there, but everything looks intact.

Again, tank you

 

[Doc]

Thanks for the update, and glad you got er done.

Great input Denny!!!!!!

 

[Denny]

Sometimes you just need a bigger hammer. LOL
Happy to have been some help.
Where was it actually stuck, gasket or metal on metal?
Are Volvo's like Merc's? Every 100hrs they recommend to drop the drive to grease the universal joint?

 

[Iggy]

I want to thank you for the great video. If help me confirm that I was fallowing the right procedures. I end up having to pull it with a John Deere tractor 3025E (So you have an idea how "stuck" it was). "Choke" the trailer wheels, tractor on full traction. Worked on it for about 3hrs before finally, after a big pull/drop it came out.

It have some corrosion there, but everything looks intact.

Again, tank you

Did water get in there? The shaft is really rusted.

 

[Denny]

I want to thank you for the great video. If help me confirm that I was fallowing the right procedures. I end up having to pull it with a John Deere tractor 3025E (So you have an idea how "stuck" it was). "Choke" the trailer wheels, tractor on full traction. Worked on it for about 3hrs before finally, after a big pull/drop it came out.

It have some corrosion there, but everything looks intact.

Again, tank you

Picture of neglect.

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[ags]

I would never attempt to pull an outdrive off with something as crude as a chain and tractor. Using wedges and pry bars, you can generate more force between the two surfaces than tugging on it with a tractor, all while having precise feel and control where that pressure is being applied.

 

[Denny]

I would never attempt to pull an outdrive off with something as crude as a chain and tractor. Using wedges and pry bars, you can generate more force between the two surfaces than tugging on it with a tractor, all while having precise feel and control where that pressure is being applied.

Good advice. There are times when when you have tried everything else and finesse doesn't work. So you bring out the Neanderthal in you, and a BFH. I have fixed and ruined a lot of things using that method. Lol