Outboard vs. I/O, maintenance & getting underway

[CohoMike]

I've always had outboards and am very familiar with their care and feeding. Never had an i/o or inboard. One of the boats on my now very short list has a jackshafted I/O (Volvo Duoprop drive).

Someone care to give me the low down on what kinds of things to check before each and every outing (ie your pre launch checklist)? Only interested in things that would be different than launching an outboard.

Also what kinds of maintenance am I looking at? Right now its only plugs, winter fogging & gear oil prior to winter layup, and an impeller every couple seasons. I know if we go with the I/O things are going to be much more involved.

Should probably say this will be used in fresh water (great lakes) and rack stored (most of the time). Will spend a week here and a week there in the water at other ports.
Thanks
--Mike

[This message was edited by CohoMike on 06-25-03 at 10:45 AM.]

[dry doc]

i also went from fluency in two stroke to bewil-
derment at an automotive v8...the latter demands
(and WILL get) considerably more care....pretrip list is

[1] "fluids"....the power tilt/steering
oil level....the gear oil level...the trim
oil level...the engine oil level...the cool-
ant fluid level...the water level in the
primary racor (clear bowl, in the cockpit),
the bilge pump switch/pump functions, the
waste level in the porta-pot, and the gallon
# of drinking water aboard (in gallon jugs)
ie gallon per crew per day min....note that
i must look over the engine compartment and
bilge fairly well in the process so other
things get seen without putting them on the
actual list...oh, and the first two "fluids"
i check (the list is preprinted in my log
and i check off each every day afloat) are
the gas and the battery charge in amp-hours
....

[2] i wash the windows with windex and then
treat them thoroughly with rainx

[3] i wash the entire boat with boatsoap and
fresh water sometime each trip, but no al-
ways at the start.

[4] i always have one area of the boat to
do "ctr" on (clean + tight + right...means
it works)...thus, i would polish a few sq
yards of gel, check any fasterners therein,
corrosionblock any metal therein, and make
anything that does anything actually do it..
all this is routine and in sequence..when
i have gone over the entire boat every 2-3
months, i just start over.

[5] i usually have at least one REPAIR to
do, though not always....

the other half of the checklist i do at home
while packing my sea duffel (i just got a fancy
ORVIS duffel...nice!), so that warm clothes
(fleeces, foulies, +/- hat and gloves, spare
socks, turtle necks), cool clothes (hat, shorts,
cutoffs, suntan oil, swim trunks, and fresh tow-
el), foodstuffs, and camera are all loaded into
the duffel long ahead of time...the cooler holds
the real food....with the cooler full or 3-4 days of food, the duffel full of 3-4 days of
clothes and protective accessories, i am off to
the boat...at the boat, once the duffel is in
the cabin, the cooler is in the cockpit, i start
the "fluids" drill straightaway....only when all
the "fluids" are checked, cooler and duffel on
board, do i call the forklift to launch me...
it is literally turnkey when you hit the water,
because other boater will not wait patiently to
get their boats launched as you fiddle and faddle on the forklift!.............dan

[jobowker]

In addition to what you did for your outboard, you have to change the oil (I do mine every 100 hours) and at the end of the year I pull off the outdrive and store it in my basement.
If your engine doesn't stay in the water all the time, that's about it for year to year differences. Changing the bellows is a pain - it's not rocket science, but it's a pain. I jsut did mine this year, so I'm good for probably another 5 years or so on those. In a few more years it will be time to replace the exhaust elbows & risers, but I run in salt water and my boats stays in the slip all summer.
They are more maintenance, but not a tremendous amount.

[KevinM]

Outdrive need to be pulled every year to lube the universal joint and gimbal bearing. Both exhaust and drive shaft bellows needs to be inspected every 6 months (could sink the boat).
If the boat sits in the water, zincs will need to be changed as needed, since the outdrive needs to be put in full negative trim postion so there is no growth on the trim and tilt rams. Growth kill the seals. Also you may want to get one of those mercathode systems to combat electrolysis. Outboards trim all the way out of the water. If you have raw water cooling, get ready to replace manifolds and risers and circulating water pump every 3 to 5 years.

[dry doc]

all of the above IS needed, but i have it done
by mercruiser savvy personnel...i thought you
wanted info on what YOU need to do, ie on a
weekly and personal basis. dan

[jobowker]

I have an Alpha, so some of the advice is outdrive specific. For instance, the alpha comes with permalube u joints, which means you can' grease them. I do however, every spring, grease the hinge pins and the gimbal bearing (basically the 3 zerk fittings on the gimbal ring) and the engine coupler (on the driveshaft inside the boat between the engine and the transom) and since I sit in salt water all summer, I look at the anodes once a month.
I left out bottom painting the outdrive, since you were referring to dry stored boats.

[CohoMike]

Thanks for all the replys. BTW, the drive is a Volvo Penta (jackshafted).