Lower Unit Rebuild

Wowgamer

Cadet
Joined
May 4, 2010
Messages
9
I bought a project boat\motor a couple months ago, and I have never worked on boat motors before in my life, but am enjoying the challenge. I have a 1971 Mercury 135hp Outboard.
This will be my 3rd water test and I want it to run like a champ. I have the motor running what I think is pretty good. I have it idling at about 900rpms and have yet to put it under heavy heavy load, but it sounds great.
I dropped it in the water and realized that I had no forward. Reverse was working OK, but forward was grinding and not fully engaging. At first I thought that I didn't have the gears set properly, but the prop would lock in reverse both ways spin freely in neutral, and ratchet both directions in forward. I pull the lower unit carriage out (not fun at all) and found my forward teeth are pretty chewed up. Is this something that is weldable or are they just replaced when worn? They seem to be pretty pricey, but I find a lot of them on EBAY. Would shopping around there or a local marina be more beneficial?

Thanks
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,141
Re: Lower Unit Rebuild

Normally you would junk the LU, if it had bad gears, due to the cost of replacement. You might price out the parts at the crowleymarine.com website to see what is avail and what it costs.
 
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