volvo penta 200 outdrive noise

my 23' 1969 Donzi has a pair of ford 302's and volvo penta aquamatic 200 outdrives. the motors are new but the drives are original. last weekend while running through rough water I came down hard into a wave and the engine acted like it poped out of gear. i chopped the throttles and then tried to put them in gear again. the starboard outdrive in neutral has a grinding sound in the upper unit where the input shaft is. when put into gear it makes horrible noises. but if i spin the prop with my hand while its in neutral, the lower unit sounds good, i drained the oil but didnt see any noticable pieces of metal. any help with what could be going on? or should just start getting dirty and tear this thing apart in my living room? thanks anyone.

Sincerely
charlie z

 

penta 200 outdrive noise

I don't know if you solved the problem or not; but if you're interested, I just removed a '68 200B unit from my boat. It chewed up its lower drive gears; however the upper gears seem fine and performed without problem.
Also, I'm not positive about this - but it appears that the 200 upper and the 270 upper that I'm replacing it with are interchangable. Anyway, if your interested in keeping everything penta 200, I can part with the upper gearcase I have for a good price.
- Tom
rohetom@sbcglobal.net

 

Hello Charlie,
It is hard to diagnose problems when a inspection cannot be made. However, I have had many years experience as a certified Volvo mechanic. It unfortunately lsounds like your drive has lost its upper gearset. When in neutral the only significant things that move in the upper case are the vertical shaft and cone clutch assembly. Do not opperate the unit at all in its current condition. It will just multiply your cost of repair.
I highly reccomend that you do not attempt to repair the unit yourself.The drives do not appear outwardly to be very difficult to work on but trust me; unless you are very familiar with how to set gear contact patterns,pre-load bearings to inch/ pound tollerances, check backlash to + or - .002 " etc., do not attempt it. I am not trying to wow you with techno jargon . I am just trying to give the best advice I can.Of all the stern drives out there, Volvo's are the most precisely assembled units. The Swedish engineers shimmed everything in the drive to accomplish propper gearlash and bearing pre-loads.
Installation of a good used upper gearcase is feasible and not to difficult to perform. With a FACTORY repair manual as a guide a do-it-yourselfer should have few problems on this limited repair
That said,there are some options to save a few bucks.In general, Volvo has three different upper gears. One for 4 cylinder motors, one for six cylinder motors and one for 8 cylinder motors. I say general because during the sixties and early seventies Volvo drives were attacheed to all kinds of motors (chevy,Ford,Chrysler as well as diesels) as well as using all kinds of manufactures namesi.e. Chris Craft, Glastron, Gray Marine etc, One of these 200 or a newer 270, 280 or possibly a 290 could be used as a replacement or for parts.
Before getting ahead of the game , I would suggest you verify the upper gear set is shot. First ,remove the dipstick or top plug from the center of the ""top cap"" or"top cover" assembly located on the top of the drive . Being very carefull to pay attention to order of dissassembly of parts:remove the 4 allen cap screws that hold the cover on . Perform this procedure with the drive all the way down and obviously out of the water.Remove the top cover by rotating it back and forth aprox 10 degrees. It may take some persuation but do not pry on the mating surfaces to get it loose. Once removed, you will see a ball bearing. If the gear set is bad, you wWILL be able to see metal debris or flaking If you are interested in any further help I will provide it when you post a response as to what you found upon inspection. Hope this helps you get started.