Amen, about the springs being the weak point. I have a 1976 Slickcraft
SS245 with a 351 ford. Foward sping broke twice on me about 4 years
ago, 20 miles out in lake superior.
Still have the boat, and is working at this time. Have it up for sale,
but do need to take it out and make sure all is well. Want to make
sure the boot is still sound.
BTW how much work is it to replace the springs oneself.
Al

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 23:01:57 -0400, trainfan1
wrote:

Jim Rojas wrote:

I placed my meter across both leads. I am reading 11.4 ohms.
If I spin the shaft, the reading swings between 8 to 13 ohms.

Jim Rojas



Across both leads, divide by 2. Try each lead to ground, the total of
the two should equal your reading across both leads, which sounds like
they are within tolerance and the coils are both grounded OK... no open
circuit(good) and no short circuit(also good) and then you can check for
a 1.5 - 2 amp draw under load with a 12v source. If you do not have a
good multimeter for this part, a low current battery charger with a
half-way decent ammeter should allow you to get a good ball-park figure.

If the vertical shaft is intact (as per WRH post) you should be able to
get the springs to load up on the gears (1 at a time - forward &
reverse) with a clockwise rotation(as viewed from the top) while each
coil is energized.

If the springs are in good shape(they do wear) you will get maximum life
by using OMC Type C lower unit oil (used to contain whale oil - no
longer does). I have not sourced the clutch springs in years, so you
may have to do some web searching... they are certainly a weak point of
this type of drive.

Rob