4.3 mercruiser alpha one question

[bigturk_80]

Hey guys,

So I just re-did my Starcraft Islander transom and floor, which required engine and outdrive removal.

Replaced everything while I was in there, gimbal, bellows, gaskets, etc etc...

Had the engine properly aligned at a shop, and the outdrive slid right on like butter. I also had the shop set up my shift cable, just to make sure everything was good.

So, I hook everything else up, and prep the motor to test run with muffs on. Prior to starting, I checked to make sure it shifted smooth, which it seemed to do. The prop locks up in gear, and free spins in neutral.

I fire the engine up and it's running perfect. Click it into forward and it shifts smooth into gear. Go back into neutral smooth. Click into forward again after a couple minutes and it seemed to make a bit of a bang noise, louder than what I ever remember hearing when putting it into gear. The motor stalled. Put it back into neutral and it started right up no problem.

What kind of issue am I looking at here? Shift cables need to be tweaked a bit? Are alpha ones fairly loud going into gear when out of water? That's the first time I ever shifted it out of water.

[slow rollin]

Yes they grind into gear when they are out of water. Irs normal. But if yours is stalling your motor then you have bothering issues. You should not leave your motor in gear if its not under load for very long either.

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[bigturk_80]

I'm thinking it was just my bonehead move of testing it out of water. Everything I'm reading now says never to do that. I'll try it under load and see what happens. I did test it without it running, by shifting it into forward, neutral, and reverse. Prop locks when trying to turn prop CCW while in forward, and locks when trying to turn CW in reverse. Spins freely in neutral. It does spin and do the clicking noise when I spin it CW in forward, or CCW in reverse which I'm reading is normal. However, it seems much stiffer when doing the clicking sound in Forward gear. In reverse, it doesn't seem as stiff when turning it, and it seems to "click" easier.