Just thought I'd share a solution to a problem I came across this afternoon.
While reassembling my gearcase, the water tube came dislodged from the powerhead. No big deal, this has happened before...... and after about an hour of struggling to get the water pipe to seat into the powerhead I was getting frustrated.
I removed the 8 12 point bolts that hold the powerhead to the motor leg (also a 3/8 hidden under the exhaust backpressure outlet) and then lifted the power head up a few inches. I then was able to see the hole for the water pipe. The pipe had somehow become distorted when I pulled the gearcase off and would not follow the path up to the hole. In order to get the tube to fish up to the hole, I ran a piece of stiff wire down the hole (straightened clothes hanger) so that it exited the motor leg. I then stuck the wire into the water pipe and used it to guide the water pipe to the hole. I could then feel with my finger how far off the pipe was and carefully bent it back into position. After a few tries I was able to get the pipe to hit home and seat in its socket.
Hopefully this will save someone a little frustration. I keep a spare set of gaskets laying around, and you'll need one to replace the gasket at the powerhead/leg junction if you do this.
While reassembling my gearcase, the water tube came dislodged from the powerhead. No big deal, this has happened before...... and after about an hour of struggling to get the water pipe to seat into the powerhead I was getting frustrated.
I removed the 8 12 point bolts that hold the powerhead to the motor leg (also a 3/8 hidden under the exhaust backpressure outlet) and then lifted the power head up a few inches. I then was able to see the hole for the water pipe. The pipe had somehow become distorted when I pulled the gearcase off and would not follow the path up to the hole. In order to get the tube to fish up to the hole, I ran a piece of stiff wire down the hole (straightened clothes hanger) so that it exited the motor leg. I then stuck the wire into the water pipe and used it to guide the water pipe to the hole. I could then feel with my finger how far off the pipe was and carefully bent it back into position. After a few tries I was able to get the pipe to hit home and seat in its socket.
Hopefully this will save someone a little frustration. I keep a spare set of gaskets laying around, and you'll need one to replace the gasket at the powerhead/leg junction if you do this.