1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

[Evinrookie]

I'm new to boating and iboats and have been scouring this site ever since I found it to get as much info as I can. Definately been bitten by the boating bug. I've got a 1967 Evinrude 80 Hp Speedifour. I took it out on the lake for the first time this weekend. What a blast! When I got it home I noticed a good bit of oil/lube coming from a hole at the bottom of the lower unit. I'm not sure what the hole is but I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be leaking on my driveway. From what I've read here on this forum a common thing is for the unburnt 2 cycle to leak out but I don't think that's what this is. It was kind of a light brownish color while leaking down the bottom of the lower unit and the prop. My questions are as follows:

1. Does this sound like a big problem and what could be causing it?

2. What kind of lower unit lube do I need and how much? (I've already bought a pump for filling the lower unit)

3. I've read several times about replacing the drain gaskets whenever they are remove. Are these universal or did they stop making them for my engine just like they stopped making everything else?

You guys are great. I'm telling everyone I know who owns a boat about this site.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

Could you put a pic up of where it is leaking? If it's from the vent or drain screw thats a problem, but if it is unburnt carbon build up thats normal. There will be 2 screws on the lu with a large slot in them, 1 is the drain screw, the one slightly above it is the vent screw. When changing the lu oil, remove the vent, then the drain, collect the used oil, then when refilling, put in new gaskets as you said, hook the pump up to the drain hole and pump until the oil flows out the vent hole. Put in the vent hole screw, this will give you time to remove the pump and install the drain hole screw. Job done. The marinas have many lu gaskets to choose from, mine just gives me a handful at a time. I prefer the full synthetic OMC lu oil, but others on here will give you there input. Happy BOating

 

[Evinrookie]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

Thanks for the quick feedback HighTrim. I'll take a picture of it tonight and post it. Please check back and let me know if I'm completely hosed or just mostly hosed.
One more thing. How do I know if I have an electric shift or something else?
Thanks again.

 

[Evinrookie]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

Here are the pics of my leaky lower unit. As you can see it leaked a pretty good amount onto my prop and lower unit. The leak is coming from the little hole behind the flathead screw where the paint is chipped.

 

[Evinrookie]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

anyone?

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

edit

 

[Evinrookie]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

If the seal is bad or missing what could the long-term affects be? Thanks for the part numbers on those pieces! I was able to do a search and found this great website with an online parts catalog for a bunch of motors. (http://www.crowleymarine.com) I've never messed with a lower unit before. Replacing a few gaskets and seals is easy, I'm just worried about messing something up. Is this something I should have done by a pro? Any advice?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

I dunno, rookie, but I think I see a large gap between the upper and lower gearcase. The sloppage running out the drain hole is fuel mix, but the big issue is coming out from between the gearcase sections and is the result of one of the two studs holding them together has broken. It was fairly common. Here's a pix of what's in there and the red lines represent a possible broken stud.

 

[Evinrookie]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

F_R
I think (hope) what appears to be coming from between the gear cases is actually what came out of the drain hole and ran down the seam. I saw it running out pretty profusely once I had her back in the driveway. I'm definately going to take a close look when I get home anyway. I can handle engine work but transmissions/gear cases scare me. Too many washers, spacers, bushings, springs, widgets, doodads, and thingamajiggies to worry about. Any idea where I can find parts for this old girl?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

I think I see driveway shining through here.

 

[Evinrookie]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

Chipped paint. I had to shrink the picture so it would fit. I went back to my original pic to verify.

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

The leak is coming from the little hole behind the flathead screw where the paint is chipped.[/QUOTE]
I'm going to look at mine since it looks like 2-cycle oil leaking, not gear oil. I don't know what that hole is. The gear oil is below that line. Stand by before you wrench the bootom off.

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

My mistake.The oil vent hole is higher as shown in my photo. The hole that you're referring to under the anti-cavitation plate in front of the exhaust outlet looks suspicious but I still think it's fuel/oil. Mine has the same hole. It almost looks like a casting defect.
Check your gear oil level and colour. With your engine tilted you should have some come out if you take the top oil level screw out. If not, put the top (vent) plug back in and take out the bottom (filler) plug.The oil should look like oil, not a milkshake.
The gears are all contained within the lowest cylindrical unit as shown in FR's post. I took mine all apart to inspect it when I got it. It's not hard, just lay everything out as it comes out. Remember, these engines are so old they're simple compared to what is made now.

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

If my memory serves me correct, there's a casting cavity inside that's drained by that hole. Did you run it wide open when you had it out and burn everything out of her or were you putt-putting?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

If my memory serves me correct, there's a casting cavity inside that's drained by that hole. Did you run it wide open when you had it out and burn everything out of her or were you putt-putting?

Right on, that is correct, it is a drain hole for the mentioned cavity. If it were actually gear oil coming out there it would be coming from the shift rod seal. But that looks like an awful lot of stuff coming out for it to be that.

 

[Evinrookie]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

I did run it wide open for a little while but then I had to park it idling for a couple of minutes while I ran to get my trailer (it had conked out due to a loose fuel pump wire and I didn't want to risk it not restarting). I can imagine it would have built up a bunch of unburnt fuel while idling. I'm going to check the gear lube anyway because I don't know how long it's been since the previous owner changed it. The engine seems to be in pretty good condition but the previous owner was a bit of a space cadet. Next time I take it out I think I'll try to get it trailered faster and hopefully I'll see less oil coming out. When I finally do need to drop the LU (for water pump) what kind of gaskets, seals and other stuff should I replace before putting it back togerther? Thanks for your help guys and thanks for the reassurance E. Boater about working on these older engines. I have a feeling I'm gonna learn alot from this old gal. Probably more than I ever wanted to.

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

Evinrookie,
I replaced every seal and O-ring in the lower end of my motor thinking I had gear oil leaking out of the gear case. As it turned out, my engine was running on three cylinders and was too rich.
Idling can load up the engine especially if the slow speed needles are set too rich. There's a procedure here on iboats instructing how to set those slow speed needles. What do your plugs look like? Mine are light tan. They used to be dark brown to black but those adjustments really helped.
I'm not familiar with an electric fuel pump. Mine is a 1964 model and it has a crankcase vacuum actuated pump.

 

[Evinrookie]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

The electric fuel pump is something the previous owner put on. It replaces a squeeze ball. He must have wanted to complicate things. Your comment about the slow speed needles is very intriguing. When I first tried to take my boat out I ended up flooding the engine and possibly burning up my starter due to........can you guess............a bad connection on the electric fuel pump. I replaced the spark plugs and the old onces were BLACK! The engine seems to idle fine (for a 67) even at very low rpm. I'm going to pull the new plugs and see if they've gummed up with just one outing. The engine doesn't feel or sound like it's missing so I think it's firing on all 4. How can I be sure it's firing on all 4?

It's nice to have someone I can talk to that has a similar motor. By the way, where did you get the o-rings and seals from? I don't think I need to take that step yet but finding parts is a major concern of mine.

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

Most of the maintenance parts are still stocked by dealers or they can order them from BRP. I went to a local boat shop for the seals etc. I think they cost me $100 for everything.
Getting it tuned right will be good for the fish and the engine. You might even want to decarbonize it. They tend to get carboned up if you don't run them hard. I did mine last year and it didn't expell much but others have described a repulsive ooze that has come out of their engines. Sea-Foam (liquid form) and Deep Creep (aerosol form) are popular products for decarbonizing. Search the topic and you'll find lots to read. Basically you introduce it to your engine via the gas or pouring it down the carbs until it chokes, let it sit and then start it up and burn the carbon out of her.
You can check the spark by installing a spark tester on the plug wires. These have a gap that you can watch the spark jump across. My neighbour had a package of four so I installed all of them, started the engine and instantly found the one that wasn't sparking. When I wiggled the wires it affected the spark. I got a new plug wire made at a boat shop. These are solid wire, not carbon core automotive wires.
Whenever I came in to dock and raised the motor a plume of fuel would empty out of the exhaust. Not any more since I adjusted the slow speed needles. Here's the procedure:

After cleaning those carburetors, adjust as follows. And don't forget to clean the brass fixed high speed jet that is located in the bottom center portion of the float chambers.

(Carburetor Adjustment - Single S/S Adjustable Needle Valve)
(J. Reeves)

Initial setting is: Slow speed = seat gently, then open 1-1/2 turns.

Start engine and set the rpms to where it just stays running. In segments of 1/8 turns, start to turn the S/S needle valve in. Wait a few seconds for the engine to respond. As you turn the valve in, the rpms will increase. Lower the rpms again to where the engine will just stay running.

Eventually you'll hit the point where the engine wants to die out or it will spit back (sounds like a mild backfire). At that point, back out the valve 1/4 turn. Within that 1/4 turn, you'll find the smoothest slow speed setting.

Note: As a final double check setting of the slow speed valve(s), if the engine has more than one carburetor, do not attempt to gradually adjust all of the valves/carburetors at the same time. Do one at a time until you hit the above response (die out or spit back), then go on to the next valve/carburetor. It may be necessary to back out "all" of the slow speed adjustable needle valves 1/8 turn before doing this final adjustment due to the fact that one of the valves might be initially set ever so slightly lean.

When you have finished the above adjustment, you will have no reason to move them again unless the carburetor fouls/gums up from sitting, in which case you would be required to remove, clean, and rebuild the carburetor anyway.

 

[cougar1985]

Re: 1967 Evinrude Lower Unit Questions

use my 90 a lot for trolling and the way i decarbon it is to raise motor to full tilt ,then take out plugs,load up each cylinder with sea-foam or deep creep ,put plugs back in,let sit for 2-4 hours then start up and watch the neighborhood disappear.for my motor it works wonders.have 4 other motors and there all going to get the same treatment a least once a year or so.a manual is invaluable when it comes to part placement and so is a part manual as they usually show the order.me im one of the lucky people that can take something apart and without fail put it all back exactly like it came apart,and good thing to as i dropped and scattered a lower unit gearset the other day.