1999 Johnson Ocean Pro Lower Unit Seal and Bearing question

[AndyD]

I have a 1999 Johnson Ocean Pro 150. I am changing the water pump out. I have everything apart and cleaned. I have a question concerning the upper drive shaft bearing and seals. I have no oil leakage from the lower unit, the seals seem to be performing their intended function. I noticed after taking the water pump off that the drive shaft has play. In other words in can be wobbled or deflected slightly to the side with ones hand. When I do this I could see the upper seal deflect and very small amounts of water get pushed out.I am assuming that that the orientation of the seals and the lips that do the work are obscured from my view since I have never had water in the gearbox.

Is a small amount of drive shaft normal, or does this indicate a problem with the bearing? How about the seal. I'm assuming that the working lip of the seal is obscured from a a wiper or protective outer ring, and that is what I'm looking at. Should I be concerned about either of these, or should I just complete the water pump service.Everything is apart now so it's exposed. However I do like the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

 

[jakedaawg]

It's held in place at the top by the crankshaft. A small amount of wobble is normal. I do not know if there is a spec on this or not. Some are right and some you can just feel are way out. If they are bad usually you have chunks of bearing in the lube. Certainly replace the seals now that you are this far. "an ounce of prevention" since you like colloquialisms (sp?).

 

[racerone]

??-----I think it is a 2 piece driveshaft and yes they wobble.-----It is NOT a problem with a bearing.-----When the driveshaft is in the crankshaft there is no wobble !!

 

[AndyD]

Great, that is what I needed to know about the drive shaft. I suspected as much now I have a piece of mind.

To replace the 2 upper D.S. seals I assume that one just removes the bearing carrier then using a seal puller to remove the old seals, Tap the new ones on (I usually use an appropriately sized socket) with some sealant and re-install with a new O-Ring and grease. It looks pretty straight forward,.am I missing anything?

 

[Chris1956]

The driveshaft bearing carrier has 4 bolts, and O ring and a DS seal. I pulled the one on my '98 Johnny last fall, and it came out easy.

I would put a torque wrench on the bolts, so you do not over torque (168-192 inch pounds) and break them. Just ease them out. Use some heat if they are stuck.

Make sure the Oring is in the top hole. It appears that gear oil is pumped thru the bearing, and if the oring is out of place, it could block the flow.

 

[AndyD]

Thanks for all of the reply's. Got it all completed today. The dealer gave me the lower seals and O-ring so I had to go back and show him where he was wrong and do the exchange. That wasted a lot of time. Everything went together well and the tattle tale stream pumps really strong. It will go much quicker if I have to do this job again. The hardest part is having to read the instruction like 3-4 times to make sure you are doing things correctly.

Changed the plugs and checked the compression today as well. Only one thing left. When I replaced the thermostats the other day I mis-read my torque wrench and cracked the plastic cap. Felt real stupid when I realized I was reading the wrong scale and had torqued it too hard. Have a drip coming from around the cap. No biggie, a new cap on Monday and we should be good to go.