I've got the above-described motor. This is my first time winterizing the (any!) motor, and I dutifully changed the lower unit oil, as all of the online conventional wisdom suggests. I purchased new seals for the plugs (part # as indicated by someone at ********), and they are little, tiny rubber o-rings. After pulling the drain and vent plugs, the threaded part of those plugs is significantly larger than the o-rings. The holes in the lower unit seemed to have a plastic type of surface in them, but I couldn't get anything to actually come out. (Maybe just be being timid, this being my first foray into this area.) There didn't appear to be any other sealing mechanism in place when I removed the plug
Anyway, I had to change the oil, as I had to get the boat out to where I'm storing it for the winter, so I went ahead and stretched the tiny little o-rings over the threaded part of the plugs, filled the lower unit until oil came out of the lower of the two upper plugs (there are 3 plugs on this - drain/fill at the bottom, vent at the top and oil-level, apparently, just below the vent), then put the plugs in w/ the over-stretched o-rings (mainly, because it made me feel better to have them there, but it was pretty clear they weren't the right seals..) No oil is leaking out, but then again, none was leaking out before the change, either. (ie, w/o the new rubber o-rings).
So, before putting her in the water come Spring, what should I do? Remove the o-rings? Leave them on? Dig harder into whatever is (or maybe is not) in the holes (some kind of plastic washer, perhaps?)
Does anyone know the correct part/part-number for the washer for this lower unit?
Thoughts and advice?
Thanks!
Anyway, I had to change the oil, as I had to get the boat out to where I'm storing it for the winter, so I went ahead and stretched the tiny little o-rings over the threaded part of the plugs, filled the lower unit until oil came out of the lower of the two upper plugs (there are 3 plugs on this - drain/fill at the bottom, vent at the top and oil-level, apparently, just below the vent), then put the plugs in w/ the over-stretched o-rings (mainly, because it made me feel better to have them there, but it was pretty clear they weren't the right seals..) No oil is leaking out, but then again, none was leaking out before the change, either. (ie, w/o the new rubber o-rings).
So, before putting her in the water come Spring, what should I do? Remove the o-rings? Leave them on? Dig harder into whatever is (or maybe is not) in the holes (some kind of plastic washer, perhaps?)
Does anyone know the correct part/part-number for the washer for this lower unit?
Thoughts and advice?
Thanks!