140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

[vtonian]

I have a 1993 140hp that leaked salt water into the lower unit (and I didn't check it). When I dropped the lower unit to see why it wouldn't shift into reverse, things were pretty ugly. I got it apart down to the prop shaft and forward gear and bearing housing, at which point the manual said to 'grasp the propeller shaft firmly with one hand and remove'. Haha.

Soaked it with penetrent for a week and a half, applied some low heat to the gearcase, nothing doing. Finally adapted the slide hammer to the prop shaft and banged away until something gave, which was apparently bits of the shifter and/or other giblets.

Now that I've FUBAR'd it, anyone have an idea how I might get the rest of the forward bearing housing out of there? The gearcase is/was in pretty good shape.

Is it possible to weld something up on a puller that would get an adequate purchase somewhere in that bearing housing to pull on it?

Is is possible to heat the gear case enough to help crack it loose without damaging it?

Or is this the point where they become yard art?

Thanks much, surely do appreciate it.

Matthew

 

[boobie]

Re: 140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

This is going to be a dumb question. Did you push the shift lever down to put it in reverse and then remove the shift rod before trying to take it apart ??

 

[vtonian]

Re: 140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

Yep, I did at least try to RFM, although I admit that I mixed up the chapters and did in fact try to remove the main bearing housing before removing the pinion gear and drive shaft. Fortunately figured that one out before damaging those parts. For a while, I thought I might have missed a chapter on something that was holding the forward bearing housing in but I think it's just corruption and corrosion. My bad, the boat sat for several years before I got it and I checked the fluids every time for the first few trips, then assumed it was going to be ok. Should have been more diligent. <sigh>

 

[vtonian]

Re: 140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

Does anyone have a suggestion about how to safely apply heat to these aluminum housings? Seems like the only alternative, at this point.

 

[boobie]

Re: 140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

Get a mapp gas torch and try that. If that doesn't do it go to acy/ox. The trick is to keep moving the torch around to heat the whole area.

 

[vtonian]

Re: 140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

Aye aye, will light er up.

Found a good (hopefully) used on CL for $300 so the pressure's off. Regarding this 'new' one, it doesn't look as good as my old one (I mean aside from the rust), would you (or anyone) recommend any checks/services be done prior to bolting it up, aside from checking fluids, pressure test and new impeller? Part of me would like to open it up and see how the gears and bearings look inside, the other wants to save the price of the seals kit and get out on the water.

Thanks again.

 

[boobie]

Re: 140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

Leave it closed, do what you were going to do, try it and see what happens.

 

[vtonian]

Re: 140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

Brilliant! Prolly just can't stand to hear another of my FUBAR stories though... :facepalm:

 

[vtonian]

Re: 140hp lower unit forward bearing carrier stuck

Just to finish up, I ended up cobbling together this tool:



which expands at the bottom by dropping in the wedge, and grabs the bearing from the inside. Then I applied plenty of heat:



And out it came:



20/20 hindsight, I should have applied heat first then wouldn't have broken bits, although I only destroyed the shifter cradle, shifter and detent spring with the slide hammer method.

Better lesson, check the gearcase fluid every time, it's not worth finding out the hard way it's leaked out.