1972 Johnson 25 Hp frozen

[amen0037]

I just bought a 1972 Johnson 25 Hp outboard tiller for duck hunting. The guy brought it over and I put it on my boat and put the motor in a garbage can filled with water and she started right up and ran fine. Everything I checked was working great. Took the motor out of the water and let it drain out. The next morning I come out and it was below 32 degrees overnight and everything was locked up. It would not go into gear and it would not pull over at all. I heated up the lower unit and everything worked again, but after it sat for about 30 min it locked up again. I'm thinking that all the water is not draining out, but I really have no idea whats going on. Would appreciate any help before going forward.

 

[EN2]

Re: 1972 Johnson 25 Hp frozen

Check the lower unit, remove drain plug and see if any water come out. If it does you may have seals leaking.

 

[Will Bark]

Re: 1972 Johnson 25 Hp frozen

Have you checked for water in the lower unit gearcase? Sounds like water in the gear case could be freezing; if so, you need to get it out and refill it with gearcase lube. Find out how the water got in; could only be drain and fill plug seals leaking or worse the prop or drive shaft seals.