Lower unit oil change on 1970 evinrude 33hp ski twin

[Nhav8r]

Hello all,

I have a 1970 33hp evinrude ski twin outboard that I recently acquired so I haven't had to do much maintenance with it yet. It was in storage for nearly 20 years and amazingly fired up in 5 pulls and runs great but I wasn't able to get the deck finished and try it out before winter so I went to winterize the engine and in the process of changing the gear oil I removed the upper screw which is the one that allows the fill pump to thread in and then removed the small screw near the bottom which has a magnetic rod on it. About half a cup of water came out but no oil, which until I actually put it in the water it could be as silly as the previous owner drained but never filled it. Now the problem here is that this screw on the bottom came out but WILL NOT go back in. Looking in the hole there is a metal wall blockage of some form in the eh that doesn't budge no matter what I do. There obviously was a hole it came out of but now this hole has vanished and the screw cannot go back in. I have researched and haven't found answers to this dilemma anywhere. For the time being I have found a stubby screw that fit so I could at least cap it and fill it with oil for the winter. But I have to figure out eventually why that screw won't go in. Am I missing something?

 

[racerone]

Nope---That is not the drain screw with the magnetic rod.-------You removed the shifter fork pivot screw.--------The oil drain screw is underneath the nose of the lower unit.------Time to get a manual I think.-------------Lower unit needs to come apart for a reseal.

 

[Nhav8r]

That would explain a lot! I just glanced at it and saw this upper and lower screws and figured it was as simple as that it never dawned on me that there was a pivot screw. Looks like I have another project for the spring, but I suppose it will make sure that I do the water pump and not try to milk it. Thank you for your input. I haven't had time to find a manual yet and just wanted to winterize it and this has had my brain in a tizzy.

Nope---That is not the drain screw with the magnetic rod.-------You removed the shifter fork pivot screw.--------The oil drain screw is underneath the nose of the lower unit.------Time to get a manual I think.-------------Lower unit needs to come apart for a reseal.

 

[racerone]

You need to work on it NOW !-------If water sat in there for a long time the gears and bearings could well be in bad shape.---Gives you time to look for replacement parts.---And lower units are filled from the BOTTOM drain screw till oil comes out the vent at the top.----Flywheel should come off to inspect magneto and coils too.

 

[F_R]

Well, that is a good point. If it is rusted inside, you have a problem. On the other hand, if you want to try filling it with oil for now, it may be possible to get that pivot pin back in.

Lay the motor on it's side and look in the hole. Is the hole in the fork even half way aligned? Can you poke it around to get it sort of aligned? If you can, grind or file a bevel on the end of the pivot pin so it resembles a round chisel. Now stick the pointy end that you just created in the hole(s) and rotate it while gently pushing it inward. With any luck, it will drag the fork into position and slide right in.

Don't feel bad. You are the 3,986,582nd person to do that.