I'm working on an old OMC 330 that definitely needs some TLC. On the plus side the previous owner had swapped in a Honda GX670 engine and that runs great. The drive system works well enough and the lift cylinders stopped leaking after I rebuilt them.
But 3 of the 4 drive axles leak, one of them badly. I found that a previous owner had replaced all the axle seals but they still leak because (I assume) the axle shafts are badly worn. I'm thinking my solution will be to install speedi sleeves to get them to seal again.
Now to my struggle. When the previous owner replaced the axle seals they didn't use real gasket material. They just slathered on black RTV over the whole mating surfaces and slapped the hubs back on. I worked on them for three days with sledgehammers, penetrating oil, a torch, various chisels, scrapers and pry bars. I was ready to give up. Then tonight I decided to give my cheap little HF air chisel a try. Well after 30 minutes the hub peeled off with a sound like ripping a bandage off.
So please, for the love of whatever is holy to you, don't use RTV for large mating surfaces. Think about the next poor shmuck who's gonna have to work on whatever it is.
But 3 of the 4 drive axles leak, one of them badly. I found that a previous owner had replaced all the axle seals but they still leak because (I assume) the axle shafts are badly worn. I'm thinking my solution will be to install speedi sleeves to get them to seal again.
Now to my struggle. When the previous owner replaced the axle seals they didn't use real gasket material. They just slathered on black RTV over the whole mating surfaces and slapped the hubs back on. I worked on them for three days with sledgehammers, penetrating oil, a torch, various chisels, scrapers and pry bars. I was ready to give up. Then tonight I decided to give my cheap little HF air chisel a try. Well after 30 minutes the hub peeled off with a sound like ripping a bandage off.
So please, for the love of whatever is holy to you, don't use RTV for large mating surfaces. Think about the next poor shmuck who's gonna have to work on whatever it is.
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