I left my boat in the water too long with the motor tilted up. Air temp. reached a low of -8C. It started up,ran well while I motored over to the ramp about a mile away....no issues noted.
At home,while winterizing,I find my gear lube to be distinctly milky. Anyone know what else I might have damaged? Can I download a workshop manual anywhere?
I gather from the owners manual that it might have been ok had I left the motor in the tilt down position.
If doubt the weather conditions had anything to do with the lower unit lube being milky. A worn gasket, worn shaft seal, loose bolts or just condensation over time with are more likely causes. Retorque all bolts. check for any leakage at all around prop shaft seal.
Water can get in in two places
the seal where the drive shaft enters the lower unit, To get to this seal
you take the lower unit off like you would to change the water pump.
The seal where the prop shaft comes out of the lower unit, pull the prop and check it.
Ohh another place would be the drain and vent screw. They have a
o ring you can check. Check those first. But most likely from the
prop shaft seal.
man thats cold
being that it was so cold try and refill the lower unit with the prop off
and after you install the vent screw put some pressure on the tube of oil
and see if you get oil out of the lower unit seal.
You may have just froze the seal and when you drove the boat that mile
the seal was out of shape and sucked some water. now its thawed maybe its back in shape and sealing again
Thanks,I'll try that.
Any thoughts about possible water pump damage?I'm thinking that maybe you southern sailors don't run into this kind of problem much.
I do not think that you have much of a problem. Try this, replace the lower unit oil and attach a flush hose and run it for a about 1 hour. Collect the water and see if there is any other leaks or oil in it.
After the motor cools, drain the oil and inspect, let sit and inspect again.
I would replace the prop seals just to be safe.
I do not know if the maunal is on the web. You will have to get the dealier to get you one at $ 75 +.
Ive owned alot of outboards, different brands. Just change your lower unit oil every year after use and change your seals on your fill and spill. And just not worry about it.
We're just getting over an extended stretch of -30 weather, but come spring I'm going to fire up the engine at home with its "bigfoot" in a garbage can full of water. If the gear oil passes that test, I'll take it to the lake.Thanks again for your comments.
Don't do the water tub, the exhaust out of the prop hub may
blow the water out of the tub (been there done that).
Use the garden hose adapter flushing device designed
for your engine.
Had my 75 in water tub 10 iches of water above intake holes, thought that would be deep enough, nope, the exhaust blew all the water out to the point where there was not enough water to cover the exhaust anymore, let alone the intake ports
OK<I won't do that ,but I wonder if the flushing device will in fact be any kind of test for the bottom seal? I'm thinking it won't.
Maybe it's time for me to learn how to get that foot off. I did manage to get a Seloc repair manual that covers Yamaha, Mercury & Mariner 4 strokes,2.5 to 225 HP . It should be good enough to guide me through the process,with a little help from the good folks at MacGregorsailors.com.
As long as I don't drop that Bigfoot on my toe
I'm also thinking it's some kind of seal. I had a inboard motor boat with a Merc Cruiser out unit that seemed to normally get some water in the lower unit oil causing it to be milky. I replaced all the seals and it seems like it still did it to some extent. I wonder how much the lubrication degrades? I don't know. I just ran it and changed it once or twice a year.
Since it's probably time to get to my water pump, a job I've not done before, I will do the R&R gaskets and seals.Does the pump get replaced or just the impellor and seals?
Lorne Colish wrote:Since it's probably time to get to my water pump, a job I've not done before, I will do the R&R gaskets and seals.Does the pump get replaced or just the impellor and seals?
Usually just the impeller, seals and gaskets on most motors.
You can run a BF in a an extra large garbage can with the long end of the can aligned front to back on the motor. The key is to tilt it up, put the garbage can on, then tilt it back down so that the motor is well into the can and the can is mostly vertical. You can fill it up about 3/4 of the way with the water level several inches above the cav plate.
You can run it like this for a while but after some minutes, the water in the can will get too hot and you will run the risk of overheating. So you will have to put in more cold water if you want to run it longer than that.
Anyone know what else I might have damaged? Can I download a workshop manual anywhere?
