1972 85HP Chrysler -- Lower Unit Frustrations and Water Tube Question

[turtle1173]

Hi all,<br /><br /> The saga continues. I ordered a seal kit for my lower unit this morning. It will take a few days to get here so I thought I would go ahead and tear into my lower. I've never done this before (other than doing the water pump) so I was kind of excited in conquering new territory (Is that a guy thing?)<br /><br /> Lower unit came off fine. I took the bearing carrier off and was anxious to look at it because there is oil leaking from that seal. The bearings inside and the race looked brand new so I was quite happy about that. However there is all kinds of grooves in the Prop shaft. The oil seal looked new also, so I'm guessing my leak is probably from the grooves not making a good seal.<br /><br /> Well I decided to tear it down further. This is a 2 piece lower unit so I needed to remove 3 bolts on the top to take it apart (after I removed the water pump). Guess what... there wasn't 3 bolts to take off, only 2. The other bolt (and the stud it would be on) wasn't there. There was what appeared to be a patch inside where the stud should have come through. It looked like something similar to JB weld that covered this area. So, it appears that I cannot take this 2 piece unit apart. After removing the other 2 nuts, it wouldn't budge apart. So probably that 3rd stud is JB welded together.<br /><br /> I guess what I'll do is just replace the seals that I can get too and leave the rest.<br /><br /> The plastic piece that comes from the water pump housing and connects to the water tube looked like it had melted slightly on one side. Nothing severe but noticable. Does the water tube make an air tight seal in order to work properly? Is it possible that I had it lined up a little off? It seems like it would either be in or not. I noticed that my motor would almost stop pumping water out the back once I got up to 1/2 throttle on up. I wonder if this is just the way the motor is designed or if this water tube wasn't lined up right, so that water wasn't circulating correctly?<br /><br />Thanks for listening to my trials,<br /><br />Shane

 

[turtle1173]

Re: 1972 85HP Chrysler -- Lower Unit Frustrations and Water Tube Question

Any ideas about the water tube??<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Shane

 

[Terry H]

Re: 1972 85HP Chrysler -- Lower Unit Frustrations and Water Tube Question

Well Turtle there may not be a problem with the plastic piece you are talking about, but I would like to see a new part there if it were mine...comes with a waterpump kit...or someone might have a good one laying around like I do.<br />Sorry to hear about the 2 piece gearcase problem...most of the leaks come from the o-ring that seals them together...the drive shaft seal is another one you need to replace, and hard to do with the shaft in the way..if you can't get it fixed right I would put it back on and change the oil every couple of months or whenever you have time do it and use it...other than that you might need to find another l/u that is good...just some Thoughts