water in lower unit

[redman12]

was wondering how to go about changing the seals and gaskets in my lower unit. I discovered that water was getting into it and not quite sure about how its done. any help would be great. <br /> Its a 1987 mercruser 3.0 eng and a gen II outdrive. Agin thanks for any help, redman

 

[Hog Wild]

Re: water in lower unit

Best advice is 1. you can buy a book from Clymers or Seloc to read about this as it's more complicated then any post here can handle. They have pic's and spec's. It requires special tools that you would have to buy. But you can do it if you want to. Otherwise best to take it to a shop and have it done by a professional. But I do my own but I'm kind of a "dig into it" kind of techy. But it was work...

 

[Bondo]

Re: water in lower unit

I'm with Hog Wild............<br />I Turn Wrenches for a Living..........<br />And,<br />I send my drives out to a guy who does them Everyday..........

 

[qystan]

Re: water in lower unit

redman<br /><br />There are 5 sealing areas in the lower unit.<br /><br />1. Shiftshaft seal bushing assy(1 pc)<br />2. Waterpump base seals (2 pcs)<br />3. Carrier outer end on propshaft (2 pcs)<br />4. Carrier o-ring at inner end<br />5. Oil passage between the upper and lower unit.<br /><br />Of the lot, items 1,2 and 5 are end user possibilities. For the carrier, its a pain as its usually stuck. See www.mercstuff.com on a way to remove this and you can try if you want to. <br /><br />Buy the seal kit 26-33144A 2, found it to be cheaper than buying the bits. Contains all the waterpump gaskets and drive seals.

 

[redman12]

Re: water in lower unit

thanks to all, Im a wrench turner also,been at it for 35 years. however boats is a diffant color of a horse.Agin thank you guys redman

 

[Badger999]

Re: water in lower unit

Before you tear it apart.... It is rarely the lower O-ring seal that leaks. Most of the other seals can be reached without tearing the drive down. Also bear in mind it may be the upper drive that needs reseal. They share the same oil and water will settle in the lower over time. <br /><br /><br />If you decide to go for the gusto it requires a real heavy puller to get the bearing carrier out of a mercruiser. The little 2 arm cheapo's you see on ebay will just break on the first try. But there is a technique to do it with an old prop and a couple of pieces of hardwood. I tried it once on an old scrap drive just to see if it worked and in fact it did.