Guess this question belongs here? Had it in engine/mod forum and no replies, sorry.

Hey Guys, started hearing a sound this late summer, sounded kinda like a bearing getting dried out. Could feel it in the handle too. Noticed it a lot more at idle. Did some re-search on here and I suspected the clutch after reading some older post's about the clutches etc. I uncovered the shroud from the clutch and sprayed a little lube at the shaft and sure enough it made it quiet. i am pretty sure my small transducer on the tranny was spraying a little water upon and around the shroud and some moisture had made it into the bearing/shaft area. This thing sits under the carport or a cover almost always. Think it has rained on this motor only twice since 2004 and that was driving down the road headed home. Is my clutch bearing headed on it's way out? Also the bottom half of the clutch on the gearcase drive, is that a Prodrive exclusive part? I looked at some clutches and they all look like assemblies with a pulley on the lower end? And they ain't too cheap, plus the time and labor to do it. Wondering what ya'll think, and hoping if I can lube it a little it will make it through the season, but don't want to get stranded somewhere bad either!

I wouldn't say its going bad just because it sqeaks. If you spin the prop with the motor off you will hear a slight grinding sound and that is normal. The black coupler is a PD part and is screwed to the bottom of the clutch. It has a spline and slides over the dive shaft. The clutch has 2 sealed bearings, 1 top and 1 bottom. You can pull the powerhead, unscrew the coupler and pull the clutch. Then can look inside to see if there is an issue. The clutch comes apart and is 3 pieces. You would be able to turn the bearings and see if that is what it is. A new clutch is a little over 100.00 from PD.

If your gonna own a MM you might as well learn how to work on them. You will need to at some point. I'll say it again. You really should pull these things apart every 12-18 months and thoroughly check, clean and regrease things. Its not hard to do and gets easier once you see how simple these things really are to work on.

Part Number PD-038 Clutch $195.42
I have a new one here with Invoice.

I looked at my old one and can not see why I could not replace the bearings in it. The bearings are just pressed into the housing then staked in 4 points.This is a common bearing at our local bearing store. I will need to grind out the stake marks on housing and replace bearings with Red Loctite on OD of new bearings. Then center punch bearing housing above bearing to keep from moving. We have done this for years on Allison Transmissions and don't see why it would not work on the clutch. Bearings are $8 a piece.

^^^

F-ing MacGyver i tell ya!