exhaust leak, bolts broken

[twinriver]

I have a 1982 model 70 hp evinrude. The last time I took it out, the exhaust came up into the cowl so bad that it would not run. There was a nut just under the bottom carb that was off, so I think problem solved. When I removed the shroud just under the powerhead, I discovered that all six of the bolts that go thru the midsection and into the powerhead were loose. Three on the port side of the motor pulled up tight and the three on the starboard are sheared off inside the powerhead. They have been sheared off for a while with no obvious ill effects. My question is 1. Short of pulling the power head, drilling and installing helicoils, is there an easy way to fix? and 2. Will it hurt to keep running like it is? My water pump is pumping fine, and I think I have the exhaust leak minimized to the point that the motor will run fine. Also, there is a small ammount of water coming out of the seam as well. Thanks for the advice!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: exhaust leak, bolts broken

it is only going to get worse.

 

[twinriver]

Re: exhaust leak, bolts broken

The motor is old and I do not really want to spend a tremendous ammount on it. I think I can pull the powerhead myself and take it to the machine shop for drilling out and helicoils. If it will run the rest of the season like this, I would prefer to tackle this in the winter. I do not understand why it started now, those bolts have been broken for years as I have not had the shroud off since I bought it in 1991.

 

[fixmyevinrude]

Re: exhaust leak, bolts broken

Can you post a few pics. Perhaps a small drilling jig or template with a left hand drill would remove them. If that doesn't work and you get the holes drilled you could go in there with an ez out. Try to post some pics and maybe someone has some ideas. Some has no doubt had the same problem as you before and a pic is worth a thousand words. Best of luck.

 

[twinriver]

Re: exhaust leak, bolts broken

There is no room between the midsection and the hole to get a drill into it. I am going to try and remove the powerhead and see if ez-outs will reach. If not, the drill and helicoils should be the answer. I was trying to avoid pulling the powerhead, but the more I look at it, the simpler it seems. Does anyone know if there is a gasket between the powerhead and the bottom of the frame(where it bolts down), of if form-a-gasket will work?

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: exhaust leak, bolts broken

Go with the left hand drill. Don't even consider an easy-out. Those thing's are glass hard, and also snap in two like a piece of glass. If that happens, you have a real mess. I wonder who thought to name those thing's easy-out.

 

[WT2]

Re: exhaust leak, bolts broken

I will put my two cents in with some issues I ran into. First it will get worse as the gasket gets blown out more water will pour in. On the bolts when I tapped mine I thought this would be a easy fix but I found out that when I moved up to the next size bolts there was no room for the next size head of the bolt. So I cut it off and welded 3/8 heads on and then it worked. This ate a lot of time and if someone else is doing the work it will cost some money. The heli coil will keep your same size bolt. I am wondering if it would not be better to put studs in. For some reason I think that they would hold better.