OMC saildrive trouble

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isail4sanity

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Jan 22, 2008
11
2 28 Old Hickory TN
OK, another problem with the least used part of the boat, my 15 horse, 1978 OMC Saildrive! I have water (and some fuel) in the lower combustion chamber :doh:and I don't know why. I have replaced both the exhaust manifold gasket and head gasket to no avail. Once the chamber is dried, after a few attempts to start there is enough fluid in the chamber to keep it from turning over.

ANY suggestions would be welcomed! And if it turns out to be a cracked head:cussing: then repowring options would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott
s/v Miss Molly
O'Day 28
 
Joe11688

Joe11688

.
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
isail4sanity said:
OK, another problem with the least used part of the boat, my 15 horse, 1978 OMC Saildrive! I have water (and some fuel) in the lower combustion chamber :doh:and I don't know why. I have replaced both the exhaust manifold gasket and head gasket to no avail. Once the chamber is dried, after a few attempts to start there is enough fluid in the chamber to keep it from turning over.

ANY suggestions would be welcomed! And if it turns out to be a cracked head:cussing: then repowring options would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott
s/v Miss Molly
O'Day 28
Click to expand
One of the guys in my yacht club had the same problem with his OMC Sail drive on his O'Day 27. He took it apart and couldn't figure it out, so he installed a bracket on the transom and mounted a 9.9 two stroke Johnson outboard on it. This year he launched his O'Day 25 at the club and he's been trying to sell his 27.
 
I

isail4sanity

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Jan 22, 2008
11
2 28 Old Hickory TN
Thanks Joe... I would love to see a pic of his solution...(How to reach the throttle?) if it come to that.
 
Joe11688

Joe11688

.
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
isail4sanity said:
Thanks Joe... I would love to see a pic of his solution...(How to reach the throttle?) if it come to that.
Click to expand
I was talking to him just yesterday and he told me that he sold his O'Day 27, but you could always install a throttle control on your tiller for the outboard. He has a similar setup on his O'Day 25 and it works great. You may not even need that on your boat. If you do decide to go this route though, I would beef up the inside transom of your boat and buy or build a stand-off block for a heavy duty outboard bracket. The new four stroke engine put out a tremendous amount of torque that can stove in a transom pretty easy if it's not reinforced inside. It's a pain in the butt, but it's very necessary. You boat may have a nice strong thick transom. If so, I would install a plywood back up on the inside and even some stainless steel plates. Take care.
Joe
 
Joe11688

Joe11688

.
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
isail4sanity said:
Thanks again Joe, at least I have an option now.
Click to expand
Inboard diesel is another option, because I think that the O'Day 28 is worth it. We have one that is moored on the river that I'd love to own. Big bucks to do it, but I think that it's the kind of a boat that you can hang on to and never let go of. Just take your time and choose the options wisely.
Joe
 
Steve Morris

Steve Morris

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Jun 1, 2004
95
Hunter 27 Cave Run Lake, Morehead,KY
There is an owner's group for OMC Saildrive. If you go to groups/yahoo.com/group/saildriveowners you can get a lot of information. The problem that you describe seems to be fairly common. It seems to usually be caused by a leaky gasket between the powerhead and the intermediate housing. The parts to repair this are available. Good luck.
 

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Joe11688

Joe11688

.
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
isail4sanity said:
Thanks for the suggestion and the link Steve, I will check them both out.
Click to expand
Cover all the bases and go with which ever way is the easiest and the cheapest. A lot of people who had saildrives liked them when they were running right. My only concern with them is having a gasoline engine and tank in the bilge of a sailboat. One of our YC members was out watching the air show in Narragansett Bay just recently with his family in their cabin cruiser, and their gasoline tank split open at the seams. They had to call the Coast Guard and get towed in by a towing service. I'm not too keen on these engines for that reason. One of my friends was standing in the cockpit of his I/O Starcraft cabin cruiser with the engine idling at the dock years ago, when all of a sudden the boat blew up and the force of the blast landed him in the water. I was there that day with my back turned the other way and the fragments of the windshield hit me in back of the neck. My only question would be, where would a person go if they were down below during a blast of this magnitude? It's scary.
Joe
 
I

isail4sanity

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Jan 22, 2008
11
2 28 Old Hickory TN
....scary indeed! I have always been a stickler for venting the boat prior to starting it, but you obviously never know.
 
Joe11688

Joe11688

.
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
isail4sanity said:
....scary indeed! I have always been a stickler for venting the boat prior to starting it, but you obviously never know.
Click to expand
Scott,
I have one correction on my friend's gas tank. It didn't split open at the seam. I was talking to him just yesterday and he said that the tank was made of Aluminum and it had an area of corrosion near the corner of the tank. I asked if there was any stainless steel in that area that may have set up an electrolysis, and he said no. His boat has twin engines with two gas tanks. I would never think that an Aluminum tank would do that, but they were the original tanks that came with that boat. He's going to replace the other tank when he gets it. I'm glad that my other friend was never hurt in the explosion. I hadn't known him back then when it happened, but my boat was tied up to a dock on the other side of his when that happened. Thank God the wind was blowing in the right direction. I had just bought new sails for her. Needless to say, I ran over there and untied her real quick and got her away from the fire. I don't think that he had any idea that there was a gas leak on his boat because the wind was blowing the fumes away from where he was standing. I could smell it from where I was standing on the dock while talking to another guy there. One of the guys in my club just installed a motor bracket on his Catalina 27 on Saturday. He has a diesel inboard that is terminal. Outboards aren't too bad on sailboats if you get used to them. To cut a sharp turn you need to use both the outboard tiller and the rudder tiller. Outside of that, it's not too bad.
Joe
 
D

Dcadon

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Jul 29, 2009
1
2 25 Bayfield Ontario
isail4sanity said:
OK, another problem with the least used part of the boat, my 15 horse, 1978 OMC Saildrive! I have water (and some fuel) in the lower combustion chamber :doh:and I don't know why. I have replaced both the exhaust manifold gasket and head gasket to no avail. Once the chamber is dried, after a few attempts to start there is enough fluid in the chamber to keep it from turning over.

ANY suggestions would be welcomed! And if it turns out to be a cracked head:cussing: then repowring options would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott
s/v Miss Molly
O'Day 28
Click to expand
I have solved this problem. You might benefit from this: http://groups.google.com/group/omc-saildrive-resource-page/browse_thread/thread/4c3c01abd2ac177
 
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