I/O Drive problems

[DigitalJohn]

A friend of mine with an 87 FourWinns had to have a rebuilt I/O drive installed. She was told this is common to all I/O drives. Is this true, or just true of FourWinns? I had a neighbor w/ a FourWinns had a similar problem on a boat about 7 yo. I have an 86 SeaRay, is this in the near future? Any comments?

[fatlazyless]

Wise old Confusious has been heard to say 'inboards are good, and outboards are good, but inboard-outboards are no good!

[codeman671]

A friend of mine with an 87 FourWinns had to have a rebuilt I/O drive installed. She was told this is common to all I/O drives. Is this true, or just true of FourWinns? I had a neighbor w/ a FourWinns had a similar problem on a boat about 7 yo. I have an 86 SeaRay, is this in the near future? Any comments?

It will eventually be in the future for any I/O boat, just like eventually your car will need a transmission. Four Winns does not make the outdrive so it is not typical of one brand of boat or another. They all go eventually, how long they last is based on how well you maintain and treat it. There certainly are brands that may last longer than others, as well as particular models which are better than others.

[PROPELLER]

Codeman is correct. Eventually all I/O outdrives will need to be rebuilt or replaced but that would be true of all outboards & inboards also, just like a car engine does not last forever. How you maintain your outdrive can affect how much trouble free operation like anything mechanical.

Having said that I will say that Fourwinns did use OMC I/O engines when they were in production because OMC owned Fourwinns before filing bankruptcy. OMC stopped producing I/O engines I think due to many problems with the engines as well as stiff competition from Mercruiser & Volvo Penta. But if that is the first rebuild that 87 needed then it was probably on borrowed time anyway. Probably not due to any problem but just old.

[Dave R]

Time between overhauls on a stern drive is inversely proportional to the amount of torque put through it over time. If you spend a lot of time with the throttle wide open and have a high torque engine, the drive will wear much more quickly than and identical drive that has been gently operated with a small engine. Those old Volvo Penta drives backed with little 2.1 liter 4 cylinder engines seem to last forever.

You may notice I did not mention Horsepower. It's torque that kills a stern drive, not necessarily HP, though they typically go hand in hand. Diesels are a perfect example of an exception to this rule though. A 300 HP diesel can kill a drive much quicker than a 300 HP gas engine because they typically make substantially more torque and run larger pitch props with slower prop RPM. this really loads the drive and wears it quickly.

[trfour]

send an oil sample to your supplyer and have it checked. They can allert you of any problems and can keep you on The Lale.... Somtimes after winter storage, a seal can develope a leak and let water in. You don't want to run a geartrain with water in it.

My 4 cents worth.

Love, T.

[PROPELLER]

If you change your drive unit oil every fall with your engine oil they should see if there is an issue. If its milky then water is getting in somewhere. Also if you have your drive removed at least every other year to grease fittings, replace the gasket & also to inspect if seals are good or bad you can avoid problems. Any I/O manual recommends these preventative measures & should be part of any regular maintenance.

[Merrymeeting]

FWIW. We had an OMC vintage Four Winns I/O that was 17 years and still going strong when we retired it for a new one.

[DigitalJohn]

Thanks all. Informative. I have my boat serviced every year - and we don't use it hard in the summer. I learned years ago, service your car on a regular basis and it will last longer. Though I remember in the 80s everyone Oldsmobile blew their engine at about 70,000 mi. -due to quality of the engine. DigitalJohn