Hello everyone!
I am new to boating but also very hands on when it comes to repairs.
To make this quick but thorough....
I have a 85TL79R (1979 85HP Johnson Evinrude) Gearcase Reference Parts
Just purchased last year but am already noticing two types of oil leaking from the lower unit. First I noticed a black oil (likely 2-stroke oil) leaking out of some hairline cracks in the skeg, approximately 1" below the "bullet" or prop shaft housing. I'm more concerned with how I should go about repairing the crack, as I've searched many forums and called many repair shops, which sounds like it's unburnt 2-stoke oil and this is common in 30-40 year old outboard motors, can anyone please confirm?
Can I dremel out a V shaped wedge, with hole stops at each end of the crack to prevent further cracking and apply a 2 part steel epoxy such as JB weld's Steel Stick? Or would it be best to aluminum weld the crack shut?
Is the skeg itself hollow? Where is the "2-stroke" oil coming from?
In my first attempt to fix the leak (before I realized it was 2-stroke oil, but also because when I filled up the gearcase with lucas 80w-90w gear oil, it all leaked out the next day), I removed the bearing carrier and replaced the prop shaft seals and the shift shaft o-ring from a seal repair kit shown in this video = How To Reseal a Johnson / Evinrude V4 & V6 Lowerunit / Gearcase I also went ahead and replaced the water pump while I was in there (irrelevant to my issue).
Now, having put the bearing carrier all back together, I added a quart of gear oil back in it and checked on in the next day to come to find that it was still leaking both the 2-stroke oil and the gear oil. During the repair, I greased all the seals, greased around the shift shaft splines and shaft where it goes through the hub. I used an aircraft gasket sealant (crossed referenced to the BRP Johnson Evinrude gasket sealant) around the gaskets to ensure a good seal. Now my question here is... I also used this sealant around the bearing carrier to seal between itself and the gearcase housing which, in the photos attached, look like that's where the oil is leaking from, is this the best practice to seal here? I'm going to attempt to seal this back up by removing the bearing carrier, using a scouring pad to clean off all mating surfaces, and reapply the gasket sealant. I believe my fault in the first attempt was not properly cleaning the surfaces. There was a lot of dirt, balls of oil, etc.
Thank you all in advance for your advice. Hoping to get this fixed in the next couple days. I cannot stress enough how long I've looked for solutions online and this is my last resort. Hopefully this thread will be able to help others in the future.
I am new to boating but also very hands on when it comes to repairs.
To make this quick but thorough....
I have a 85TL79R (1979 85HP Johnson Evinrude) Gearcase Reference Parts
Just purchased last year but am already noticing two types of oil leaking from the lower unit. First I noticed a black oil (likely 2-stroke oil) leaking out of some hairline cracks in the skeg, approximately 1" below the "bullet" or prop shaft housing. I'm more concerned with how I should go about repairing the crack, as I've searched many forums and called many repair shops, which sounds like it's unburnt 2-stoke oil and this is common in 30-40 year old outboard motors, can anyone please confirm?
Can I dremel out a V shaped wedge, with hole stops at each end of the crack to prevent further cracking and apply a 2 part steel epoxy such as JB weld's Steel Stick? Or would it be best to aluminum weld the crack shut?
Is the skeg itself hollow? Where is the "2-stroke" oil coming from?
In my first attempt to fix the leak (before I realized it was 2-stroke oil, but also because when I filled up the gearcase with lucas 80w-90w gear oil, it all leaked out the next day), I removed the bearing carrier and replaced the prop shaft seals and the shift shaft o-ring from a seal repair kit shown in this video = How To Reseal a Johnson / Evinrude V4 & V6 Lowerunit / Gearcase I also went ahead and replaced the water pump while I was in there (irrelevant to my issue).
Now, having put the bearing carrier all back together, I added a quart of gear oil back in it and checked on in the next day to come to find that it was still leaking both the 2-stroke oil and the gear oil. During the repair, I greased all the seals, greased around the shift shaft splines and shaft where it goes through the hub. I used an aircraft gasket sealant (crossed referenced to the BRP Johnson Evinrude gasket sealant) around the gaskets to ensure a good seal. Now my question here is... I also used this sealant around the bearing carrier to seal between itself and the gearcase housing which, in the photos attached, look like that's where the oil is leaking from, is this the best practice to seal here? I'm going to attempt to seal this back up by removing the bearing carrier, using a scouring pad to clean off all mating surfaces, and reapply the gasket sealant. I believe my fault in the first attempt was not properly cleaning the surfaces. There was a lot of dirt, balls of oil, etc.
Thank you all in advance for your advice. Hoping to get this fixed in the next couple days. I cannot stress enough how long I've looked for solutions online and this is my last resort. Hopefully this thread will be able to help others in the future.
