Advice on lower unit minor crack.

[su_jumptd]

Hello all,
Fairly new guy here, by the way great place for pretty much anything boats. Anyway I?ve got my 1st challenge and wanted to advice from the boat masters. I?ve got a 2002 Suzuki 140 4-stroke and the lower unit housing has a crack in it (refer to photo labeled Lower unit) its right on the seam were the propeller shaft housing (refer to photo labeled propshafthousing) meets the lower unit. The crack measures approx. ? of an inch long. I?ve not used my boat since I discovered this. As of now I?ve pulled the prop off and looked inside?everything looks good, at least for me. I?ve asked a few friends what should I do and they recommended I get it welded. I?m pretty good with car motors and I?d think an outboard would not seem to much different. I was thinking of taking this apart and sending it to get the crack fixed but I?ve never pulled (disassembled) a propeller shaft housing?.nor do I have a manual. Guess my question to everyone is do I need a manual or can I do this with a little help?or do I have to even disassemble it to get it repaired? Like to get some advice and suggestions on how to tackle this one?
Many thanks in advance.

 

[gcboat]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

Yes, by all means purchase an OEM manual - no Clymer, no Seloc.
Take it to a couple of welding shops ( as a whole unit ) and see what they recommend. Just might be able to get it done without disassembly.
Whether you take it apart or not that manual will come in handy down the road.

 

[cousinabe]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

www.jbweld.net

Also perform a pressure check on the lower unit and make sure it's in spec.

 

[James R]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

A welder with good experience can cut a V in that crack and weld it with no problem. No need to disassemble. There is no oil cavity in that area to worry about so no pressure test is neccessary.

 

[su_jumptd]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

Thanks for the help all,
Am going to drop the lower unit today, any special linkage or stuff I should be careful with or look out for? Wondering if I have to disconnect anything before doing this? Or, does it just drop stright out like most outboards?

Thanks again

 

[su_jumptd]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

Hello again,
As it turns out, the issue I'm having with the lower unit has gotten a little more complicated than I anticipated. I have to remove the propeller shaft housing from the lower unit. I think I'm going to need a manual for this task. Anyone have the electronic version of the manual for a 2002 Suzuki 140 four stroke they'd like to share? Is ther even an electronic version available?

Thanks

 

[su_jumptd]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

Bump....

 

[Marion Moore]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

Don't worry about it if there is no water in you gear case oil. It is at a place that will not cause a leak. Goofing with it will only cause trouble but if you can't stand it or must attempt to take it apart...

You defiantly need a FACTORY manual however what it will show you is you need a special gear puller looking tool. If you are clever you may be able to make one. Corrosion between the parts caused the crack so I'm not confident that you will be able to take it apart without breaking something. Without melting the aluminum you may be able to heat and cool the area to get the corroded joint to flex. If you heat it enough to do any good you may cook the bearings and seals and put you at the point of no return. It will need to come apart. Then saturate with penetrating oil. I have two lower units with the same problem. My working lower unit that had NO corrosion showing was an unbelievable pain to get apart. I even broke the housing insert (can?t remember the real name) but I was able to get another one off of a shot gear case. Good luck my friend, you will certainly need it.

 

[grid]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

Mr. Moore's advice may be a bit more dire than needed, though the assumption that cars (which are mostly on roads) and outboards (which aren't) are the same, is invalid. The problem you show is about normal on Japanese engines. By judicious use of heat (torch, not a butane lighter) on the outside of the casing at both the outer AND inner flanges of the propshaft carrier, you can use a puller to remove the carrier (after removing the retaining bolts, of course). Then clean the corrosion fron the carrier flanges and the inside of the gearcase, keeping the bearings clean. Once the carrier's out of the gearcase, the gearcase will begin to return to its original shape, and a good aluminum welder can weld the crack without removing the gearcase from the engine. Waterproof grease applied to the propshaft carrier on reinstallation will prevent the problem from occurring again.

 

[James R]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

These units can be easy or difficult to take apart. Suzuki says remove the two bolts, which in itself can result in a sheared bolt and simply use a soft faced mallet on the bearing housing to free up the housing allowing it to be removed.
Ok. If the bolts appear to be just a little stiff, heat must be applied to the housing at the bolt thread area. It will take a low pressure steady heat to cause the aluminum to expand to release the bolts. The application of heat will also help release the bearing housing. With care you will not damage the bearings or seals. It will take a long time because aluminum dissipates heat very rapidly. Heat of too agressive a nature melts aluminum.
If the bolts will come out without heat, which is possible but rare, the bearing housing will probably come out by tapping with the soft faced mallet.
Dont try to wedge or lever on the bolt lugs. They will break off.
When reassembling use thread seal or antiseize on the bolts and water resistant grease on the O ring and the housing flange.
Not an easy job and usually you should give this to someone with experience.
An experienced welder will make short work of the weld job.

 

[Marion Moore]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

Just yesterday, Saturday, I was successful in removing a corroded propeller shaft housing. I had a friend weld up a M10 bolt to a standard threaded rod for use as the $50 Suzuki puller bolts. I heated, cooled, tapped, heated, cooled, tapped, ? applied the puller and with a large punch tapped the housing to twist. Surface to surface corrosion and lots of scraping and sanding to clean things up. I repainted the parts and coated them with anti-seize for re-assembly. The unit had a little water in the oil so I felt like I should install a seal kit. This unit is an extra gear cases for a DT115/140 that I am going to sell. I?m going to run this reworked unit on my DT140 for a while to make sure it is good before I sell it.

This is the second ?stuck? propeller shaft housing that I have removed. It does take lots of patents.

 

[James R]

Re: Advice on lower unit minor crack.

Good job, well done. I fashioned a puller using strong angle iron and two bolts. The bolts were slotted to fit the skeg root and the case above the housing. The bolts were fitted through the angle iron and nutted on the inside. Nuts on the outside prevent the bolts from falling out when assembling. A hole was bored in the angle iron to accept the propshaft and the nut screwed on the outside. Putting the shaft under tension and applying heat to the case popped the housing out without too much trouble. Your way worked ok to.
The antisieze will definately do the job.