Dan,

You saying the rivets let go and flex plate components start to come apart?
Could be it. You suppose there is a way to check that before I lift the
engine out or remove the leg again? The noise is definately inside the boat.
Inside the transom housing or bell housing that is. Maybe I should swing the
prop and see if the flywheel wants to move, or not.

Cam

"Danlw" wrote in message
. ..

"Grant" wrote in message
...
Stern drive boats do indeed have a flexible coupling between the engine
flywheel and the intermediate shaft which attaches to the universal
joints.
In the BMW it is a flexplate with a spline. The Mercruisers have a rubber
coupling.

Cam


And, I have seen them with slots instead of holes due to wear. Thing is,
if you can hear it in the boat, that is usually where the problem is,
though can be upper gear case
as well.

Dan