left in frozen water

[mrbscott19]

This winter, I left the lower unit of my '68 85hp Evinrude in some water and the water eventually turned to ice with the prop still in the water. I was wondering what kind of damage to the motor could have been caused due to this?

 

[G DANE]

Re: left in frozen water

Welcome to the forum:<br /><br />Although this surely isnt the best wintherizing, usually nothing happens, as the water will have drained down to surface level long before it freezes. However if there was water in lower unit oil, it can freeze and damage unit. Change your lower unit oil, run it, and remove drain plug again efter a couple of hours run and look for water contamination.

 

[mrbscott19]

Re: left in frozen water

What happened was I had a big tub full of water right behind my boat with just the bottom 24"-36" of the motor in the tub while I was doing work on the boat and it was left in the tub all winter. Does what you said still apply? I'm asking because what you said earlier about water draining to surface level confused me.

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: left in frozen water

If you see no visible damage, you are probably OK.