1972 Evinrude 25HP outboard left without lower unit oil for two winters.

[evinrude25hp]

I know it was stupid and I was really lazy. I just lost interest for a while due to other circumstances. I filled the unit today and it seems to shift ok while not running. What kind of damage am I looking at. Is it ok to run it and just see if it works or am I pretty much SOL.

I was going to tear into the lower unit but I used antisieze compound on the lower unit screws a few years ago when I rebuilt it an put new seals in.

Is it possible that enough oil remained on the gears to keep them from rusting? I left the screw plugs out for about a year then put them back on before last winter.

Just wasn't thinking on this and now I regret it. Any advice would be helpful.

Jon

 

[jimmbo]

There is no simple answer to that. Factors that affect it may be, but not limited to:
Was the old Oil free of Water when drained?
Where was the Motor stored?
Humidity and Temperature of Storage Location?
Position of Motor while in storage?

You could pull Gear Case off and split the housing, to examine the Prop Shaft Bearings and Gears. Being that the unit is almost 50 yrs old, a reseal might be a good Idea anyway. That way you can inspect most of the parts

 

[evinrude25hp]

There is no simple answer to that. Factors that affect it may be, but not limited to:
Was the old Oil free of Water when drained?
Where was the Motor stored?
Humidity and Temperature of Storage Location?
Position of Motor while in storage?

You could pull Gear Case off and split the housing, to examine the Prop Shaft Bearings and Gears. Being that the unit is almost 50 yrs old, a reseal might be a good Idea anyway. That way you can inspect most of the parts

I rebuilt the lower unit and cleaned everything real good in 2013 and replaced all the seals. No water intrusion that I could tell. In November of 2017 I drained it and didnt see any water in the oil.

It has been stored in my enclosed garage with no temperature controls.

I live in North Dakota so I guess the humidity is bad in the summer but minimal in the winter. Temperature ranged from -35 to 95 F.

The motor was stored on the back of my boat in the running position.

After thinking about it more I am likley going to have to drop the lower unit off anyway to replace the impeller as it has been sitting two years and probably dried out by now. I will have to open the lower unit case to do this.

I realize I am just going to have to take it apart and inspect everything for damage at this point. Learned my lesson I suppose.

 

[racerone]

Fill with oil and run it !

 

[kbait]

Agree w/racer.. sitting in garage let no liquid water in, and gears were coated with lube when drained.. it would be like grabbing a gearset that sat on garage shelf and installing.