1987 45 HP Mariner stall and leak.

[afaust]

Hi all,

After looking around the forum, FAQ's, different searches, etc, I have not found the answer to my questions, so I will be posting them here. I have a 1987 45 hp mariner serial #OB204751. It was given to me by a friend of mine (along with the boat and trailer) when he bought his new boat. He told me that there was a low idle stall. He had the top end rebuilt (ie timing and firing ring from what understand) but the problem still remains. When firing up the motor, it works well on muffs, really runs smooth and idles nice. When I put the boat in water, it'll start up, but dies within 10-30 seconds, and to add to it, it will not even restart, with or without choke. I end up with a oil/gas slick on the water besides. When I pulled it out of the water, something seems to be leaking from the joint underneath the prop, or the vent holes where the muffs go. I know little about outboards, and do not know if they are related, or if they are 2 or 3 separate items ie 2 lower seals plus motor issue.
I would appreciate any help you can offer on this subject. Thank you,

Allan

 

[afaust]

Another thing I did notice, is that I noticed in the service manual that the motor seems to take standard plugs, but when I took mine out, they are of a hapless type.... Could this be part of the problem?

 

[afaust]

I was talking to a mechanic, and he figures my impeller might be gone. I took apart the lower unit tonight, and the impeller seemed ok (no damage), but there was one seal (top rubber) which was broken, and something I found that was quite strange. The top plastic housing, where the exit tube goes up wasn't complete, ie it's not a tube but seems to be about 3/4 complete. When I look at eBay images of the top part, the tube is completely round. Could this be causing the problem?