Thanks in advance for anyone's comment, they're much appreciated!
Long story short, I was out last weekend going about 3/4 throttle and the boat all the sudden revved and felt like it went into neutral (didn't notice any noises or vibrations indicating that I hit anything). I then returned the control to neutral and slowly put it in forward gear. The boat will get up to about five mph and then start revving again. I was able to go a couple miles back to the boat ramp without issue at that speed. I also tested reverse at the ramp and it seemed to work fine (I was able to pull it off the sand at the beach area by the dock). So, my mechanic picked up the boat thinking it would be an issue of some sort of sleeve in the prop. However, as a part of his investigation, he drained the oil (or what should've been oil) from the lower unit. It turned out to be predominately water with some oil. He is under the impression that we have internal issues with the lower unit.
This post has two parts. First, does this sound like a prop issue, or a lower unit issue (or maybe both)? I know the water in the lower unit is a very bad thing and we're trying to figure out the source of that. Secondly, since the unit is not locked up and semi-functional, would it be a terrible idea to flush the unit, let it dry out, refill with oil, re-press the prop sleeve, and then just giving it a try. One place quoted me 370 plus parts total for a rebuild. The last thing I want to do is blow the unit up and create more of a parts cost.
Another follow-up question... How hard are these things to rebuild? I've always had a knack and love for taking things apart and putting them back together. I'm just curious if there are a multitude of special tools I may need that would make it cheaper to send it off.
Thanks so much!!!
Long story short, I was out last weekend going about 3/4 throttle and the boat all the sudden revved and felt like it went into neutral (didn't notice any noises or vibrations indicating that I hit anything). I then returned the control to neutral and slowly put it in forward gear. The boat will get up to about five mph and then start revving again. I was able to go a couple miles back to the boat ramp without issue at that speed. I also tested reverse at the ramp and it seemed to work fine (I was able to pull it off the sand at the beach area by the dock). So, my mechanic picked up the boat thinking it would be an issue of some sort of sleeve in the prop. However, as a part of his investigation, he drained the oil (or what should've been oil) from the lower unit. It turned out to be predominately water with some oil. He is under the impression that we have internal issues with the lower unit.
This post has two parts. First, does this sound like a prop issue, or a lower unit issue (or maybe both)? I know the water in the lower unit is a very bad thing and we're trying to figure out the source of that. Secondly, since the unit is not locked up and semi-functional, would it be a terrible idea to flush the unit, let it dry out, refill with oil, re-press the prop sleeve, and then just giving it a try. One place quoted me 370 plus parts total for a rebuild. The last thing I want to do is blow the unit up and create more of a parts cost.
Another follow-up question... How hard are these things to rebuild? I've always had a knack and love for taking things apart and putting them back together. I'm just curious if there are a multitude of special tools I may need that would make it cheaper to send it off.
Thanks so much!!!
