Volvo Penta md11c nightmare

[javisea]

Dear fellow sailors

athe gearbox of my old volvo penta md11c (shaft, no saildrive) has signed up for retirement. After a lot of searching the internet I found a spare one. But wait, nothing is so simple in sailboats, right? There are no slots to get the boat out of the watter in the coming weeks in my area (copenhagen, danmark) and my family holyfay plans are hanging from a thin thread.
Does anyone know if it is possible to change the gearbox of the motor with the motor beeing in the watter? Any tips or tricks for the job would be very appreciated.

Best and thanks for you help

[DougR]

Sure you can remove the gearbox with the boat in the water.

What you have to watch for is that when you remove the gearbox from the timing case you are opening the engine crankcase and depending on the oil level and engine angle you may have engine oil running out. Drain the engine oil level down first.

You will need to slide the prop shaft aft about 8-10 cm
to clear the coupling.