chuckndiscs
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2008
- Messages
- 383
Good Day everyone!
Good to see your typing fingers again! UPDATE: I took a long siesta this winter as my boat was in storage and I was severly depressed. Decided I had to "forget about it" or I'd wind up in some sort of mental recovery institution before the ice melted!
Anyways, I am back, do not plan on dropping off the forums nearly as severe next time (determined its better to take comfort in those in the same "boat" as you rather than hiding the truth). Got my first two projects complete, one of which I am proud to say "Hell YEAH! I did that!" So here is the story on the outboard on my starcraft!:
Got the boat out of the family barn up in nortern MN, checked the tires -good, boat straps - good, tilted the motor up pulled the boat out and "WHOA, HOLY S*&T! Look at all that oil on the floor!
" Now I knew all winter it had a leak somewhere's as the gear oil came out looking like the last chocolate shake I had at McD's last fall but I was not expecting the new stuff I had put in for winter to be all over my father in laws barn floor (and neither was he... I quickly cleaned it up but that is another topic). Any-whoo, pulled her home knowing I had a project on my hands BEFORE I could get the 18SS on the water. "Ah man...", but I still had a month or so before my first scheduled trip, right?! Got home with the boat, backed it up into the driveway, unhooked it from the truck, lowered the motor down and here comes the rest of whatever gear oil was left (I don't know how any was left after the barn floor find) come pouring out the bottom of the lower unit, from just behind the prop... Me: "Well, Ok. Now I know at least where to start looking..."
Three weeks go by... :facepalm: ...because I pick up a scooter to ride to work (Its funny, you got to laugh a bit at a 34 year old riding a scooter to work, but at 100mpg its friggin awesome!) and it needs minor repairs done. I get it fixed and running, which is good.
Come Monday morning - two weeks before my trip (one week ago this past Monday) and I have not even ORDERED any parts! So I promptly get online to iboats (LOVE IT!) and search for 'Prop Leaks on a 90HP Johnson 2 stroke'. Promptly find many folks that have dealt with this. About 90% of comments are sure its the prop shaft seals and fishing line tangled up in the prop shaft. I read that you pull the prop and there the seals are looking you right in the face! Easy enough right...!? I read further that about 50% of folks end up pulling the bearing to tap the seals out and the other 50% are lucky to get them to pop out orDRILL THEM OUT! Using a drill on an outboard...I think I'd rather staple gun my shirt on my back than bring my drill ANYWHERE near my outboard! Needless to say I order the seals from an AWESOME online marine parts shop: shop2.evinrude.com (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!) and the parts are in my mailbox by Wednesday! WOW! Very quick service
So I then research again (online and in my clymers) about getting the seals off and decide to tear into the issue that weekend (which was last weekend FYI, not too much time to mess this up and get it fixed! :redface. Then my father-in-law calls me up Thursday afternoon (Enter big man gruffy voice) : "I'm on my way down... Were going to finish up the plumbing this damn weekend on your basement remodel. Get some beer, see ya in a couple hours." I'm like: "Great, needs to get done so we can finish that project up this summer..." (FYI -Refinishing 900 sqft in my basement = lots of work) "BUT NOW WHAT ABOUT MY BOAT?? Argh!" My father in law arrives, I take friday off work and we are in the basement solid, 12 hour days, Friday - Sunday until 4pm when he leaves for home... CRAP! Now I have 4 evening/nights (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) to get these seals out and replaced AND get the new boat seats installed (project 2), the boat cleaned, the fishing gear packed (and new gear purchased - You always need new gear!), etc before we leave! OH MY!
Monday: rolls around, I am at work digging over post after post about getting these seals off because I REALLY do not want to pull my bearing housing out - I did not buy new o-rings for the screws and it only means more time - AND I REALLY REALLY do not like the idea of drilling my outboard! Again -> I go to Wally World, pick up some extra tools (pick set, seal puller, flywheel tap, etc) in preparation. I get home Monday night (2 days ago), eat dinner, and then head out to the boat to get started. I get the prop off without much issue, Good! and find fishing line ALL OVER THE SHAFT, in the prop seals, tearing the rubber out, ACK! (*** Note *** to fisher-people, put your line in the trash as your Dad or Grandfather in my case, has been yelling at you to do since the start of time! Then it doesnt end up in my or other folks boat props and wrecking seals!) Then I see my latest nightmare(s), if you will, staring right at me in the face...the prop seals. I get out my tools, systematically go through trying to use each of them, about 12 times each, (one of them has to work if I only try it again... right?) and I only manage to get the rubber tore off the old exterior seal. I am now in it for the long haul or the boat doesn't go with... I try at it until about 1:00 am (picture me, in the driveway, the outside lights on, the grarage door open with the light on and a work space light on. I think I kept most of the neighbors up with all the lights!) when I decide the tools are not going to do it and I am DEFINETLY too tired to drill anything!
Tuesday: I scour the internet, at work, (not to the amusement of my boss I am sure but he is aware of my aches and pains on this one) on drilling these seals out. Everyone says it can be done, drill slow, drill small, AND DONT DRILL THE BEARING BEHIND THE SEAL, INTO THE SHAFT, OR INTO THE BEARING HOUSING! Ack...! I get home and get the drill out (which is a fantastic new Milwaukee with the plug in cord by the way!), get some self tapping screws, say a prayer or 9, and setup. I tap a starter indent on the lower part of the seal, put a 1/16 bit into the drill, lay down on my creeper and then look at the prop shaft/housing for what seemed like 48 hours but was more like 4.8 minutes! I then put the drill up to the seal and ever so slowly start to drill. I think I stopped and checked my hole 50 times before I was half-way through (slow and don't go too far, right...). My arms were sore before I got the bit to get through the first outside seal. So far so good...
The drill hole is a little angled toward the prop shaft as I had to angle it because the drill housing was bumping up against the prop shaft...I put a self tapping screw in and it catches - YES! I then decide to drill the one on the top side, directly across from the one already in (Not one post said anything about using one screw, two screws, pull on them once in, etc). I tap the starter dent, start drilling and CANNOT, for the life of me, get the bit to catch! I try a couple more times but it continues to slip off the seal and end up in the space between he seal (where the rubber was at one time) and the prop shaft. I decide this is not going to work, so I'll have to try and get it off with the one screw I got in. I proceed to PULL and PULL and PULL and I do not get it to move for nothing! I then screw it in a little more and pull and pull and pull, nothing! I then notice the screw head is getting bent from my pliers grabbing and pulling so I back it out and grab another, I do not want to break it off!
I start the new screw in the same hole and screw it in. I go a little further and notice now that as I turn the screw, the prop shaft is turning with me (the screw threads were rubbing the shaft, as the hole is angled towards the shaft remember, and turning it). After further inspection I determine its not going into the shaft, WHEW!, and then I see the GOLDEN LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS DARK, DIRTY, DINGY tunnel... THE SEAL IS COMING OUT MORE AND MORE WITH EACH TURN and the screw is not really going "in" further to the bearing housing (which is a good thing). I continue to slowly turn the screw until the outside seal (1 of 2, they are back to back in the gear house on the prop shaft, inside one keeps gear oil in, onutside one keeps water out -FYI) pops out, YES!! PRAISE THE WATER GODS!!! Then I see the what MAKES MY DAY! The interior, or second seal is ALSO coming out. A couple more gental turns and I have BOTH SEALS OUT!
I literally got off my creeper, seals in hand, and went SPRINTING around the front yard (Its now 11:15pm, again neighbors must think I am going crazy), into the house to show my feat off to my wife (who humbly smiles and says shes glad for me, could I go back outside I smell like gear oil). I HAD DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE! I had drilled IN my outboard, got out the seals, and not damaged anything! YAHOOOOOO!!
I spent the next hour or so putting the new seals in (had a right sized pipe to tap them in) and putting the prop back on. Filled her up with gear oil, raised and lowered the motor and NO LEAKING!!! YES!!!!!!!!!! By golly, I think I got the seals changed right, stopped the leaks, and all in time for the trip (barely... NOTE, slacking only hurts you!)!! Now the real test will to see if after the trip the gear oil comes out clean without any water (I could have other leaks I suppose but Im hoping not). Ill be back to update that but for now, 2 days away, ITS BOATING TIME!
Hope you enjoyed the story, and sharing in my accomplishment. I enjoy working on engines and am mechanically inclined BUT drilling outboards is not on my list of enjoyments! It can be done, it does work, but you wont be comfortable or getting much sleep thinking about it!
Happy Boating!
ChuckNDiscs
Good to see your typing fingers again! UPDATE: I took a long siesta this winter as my boat was in storage and I was severly depressed. Decided I had to "forget about it" or I'd wind up in some sort of mental recovery institution before the ice melted!
Anyways, I am back, do not plan on dropping off the forums nearly as severe next time (determined its better to take comfort in those in the same "boat" as you rather than hiding the truth). Got my first two projects complete, one of which I am proud to say "Hell YEAH! I did that!" So here is the story on the outboard on my starcraft!:
Got the boat out of the family barn up in nortern MN, checked the tires -good, boat straps - good, tilted the motor up pulled the boat out and "WHOA, HOLY S*&T! Look at all that oil on the floor!
" Now I knew all winter it had a leak somewhere's as the gear oil came out looking like the last chocolate shake I had at McD's last fall but I was not expecting the new stuff I had put in for winter to be all over my father in laws barn floor (and neither was he... I quickly cleaned it up but that is another topic). Any-whoo, pulled her home knowing I had a project on my hands BEFORE I could get the 18SS on the water. "Ah man...", but I still had a month or so before my first scheduled trip, right?! Got home with the boat, backed it up into the driveway, unhooked it from the truck, lowered the motor down and here comes the rest of whatever gear oil was left (I don't know how any was left after the barn floor find) come pouring out the bottom of the lower unit, from just behind the prop... Me: "Well, Ok. Now I know at least where to start looking..."Three weeks go by... :facepalm: ...because I pick up a scooter to ride to work (Its funny, you got to laugh a bit at a 34 year old riding a scooter to work, but at 100mpg its friggin awesome!) and it needs minor repairs done. I get it fixed and running, which is good.
Come Monday morning - two weeks before my trip (one week ago this past Monday) and I have not even ORDERED any parts! So I promptly get online to iboats (LOVE IT!) and search for 'Prop Leaks on a 90HP Johnson 2 stroke'. Promptly find many folks that have dealt with this. About 90% of comments are sure its the prop shaft seals and fishing line tangled up in the prop shaft. I read that you pull the prop and there the seals are looking you right in the face! Easy enough right...!? I read further that about 50% of folks end up pulling the bearing to tap the seals out and the other 50% are lucky to get them to pop out or
DRILL THEM OUT! Using a drill on an outboard...I think I'd rather staple gun my shirt on my back than bring my drill ANYWHERE near my outboard! Needless to say I order the seals from an AWESOME online marine parts shop: shop2.evinrude.com (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!) and the parts are in my mailbox by Wednesday! WOW! Very quick serviceSo I then research again (online and in my clymers) about getting the seals off and decide to tear into the issue that weekend (which was last weekend FYI, not too much time to mess this up and get it fixed! :redface
. Then my father-in-law calls me up Thursday afternoon (Enter big man gruffy voice) : "I'm on my way down... Were going to finish up the plumbing this damn weekend on your basement remodel. Get some beer, see ya in a couple hours." I'm like: "Great, needs to get done so we can finish that project up this summer..." (FYI -Refinishing 900 sqft in my basement = lots of work) "BUT NOW WHAT ABOUT MY BOAT?? Argh!" My father in law arrives, I take friday off work and we are in the basement solid, 12 hour days, Friday - Sunday until 4pm when he leaves for home... CRAP! Now I have 4 evening/nights (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) to get these seals out and replaced AND get the new boat seats installed (project 2), the boat cleaned, the fishing gear packed (and new gear purchased - You always need new gear!), etc before we leave! OH MY!Monday: rolls around, I am at work digging over post after post about getting these seals off because I REALLY do not want to pull my bearing housing out - I did not buy new o-rings for the screws and it only means more time - AND I REALLY REALLY do not like the idea of drilling my outboard! Again ->
I go to Wally World, pick up some extra tools (pick set, seal puller, flywheel tap, etc) in preparation. I get home Monday night (2 days ago), eat dinner, and then head out to the boat to get started. I get the prop off without much issue, Good! and find fishing line ALL OVER THE SHAFT, in the prop seals, tearing the rubber out, ACK! (*** Note *** to fisher-people, put your line in the trash as your Dad or Grandfather in my case, has been yelling at you to do since the start of time! Then it doesnt end up in my or other folks boat props and wrecking seals!) Then I see my latest nightmare(s), if you will, staring right at me in the face...the prop seals. I get out my tools, systematically go through trying to use each of them, about 12 times each, (one of them has to work if I only try it again... right?) and I only manage to get the rubber tore off the old exterior seal. I am now in it for the long haul or the boat doesn't go with... I try at it until about 1:00 am (picture me, in the driveway, the outside lights on, the grarage door open with the light on and a work space light on. I think I kept most of the neighbors up with all the lights!) when I decide the tools are not going to do it and I am DEFINETLY too tired to drill anything! Tuesday: I scour the internet, at work, (not to the amusement of my boss I am sure but he is aware of my aches and pains on this one) on drilling these seals out. Everyone says it can be done, drill slow, drill small, AND DONT DRILL THE BEARING BEHIND THE SEAL, INTO THE SHAFT, OR INTO THE BEARING HOUSING! Ack...! I get home and get the drill out (which is a fantastic new Milwaukee with the plug in cord by the way!), get some self tapping screws, say a prayer or 9, and setup. I tap a starter indent on the lower part of the seal, put a 1/16 bit into the drill, lay down on my creeper and then look at the prop shaft/housing for what seemed like 48 hours but was more like 4.8 minutes! I then put the drill up to the seal and ever so slowly start to drill. I think I stopped and checked my hole 50 times before I was half-way through (slow and don't go too far, right...). My arms were sore before I got the bit to get through the first outside seal. So far so good...
The drill hole is a little angled toward the prop shaft as I had to angle it because the drill housing was bumping up against the prop shaft...I put a self tapping screw in and it catches - YES! I then decide to drill the one on the top side, directly across from the one already in (Not one post said anything about using one screw, two screws, pull on them once in, etc). I tap the starter dent, start drilling and CANNOT, for the life of me, get the bit to catch! I try a couple more times but it continues to slip off the seal and end up in the space between he seal (where the rubber was at one time) and the prop shaft. I decide this is not going to work, so I'll have to try and get it off with the one screw I got in. I proceed to PULL and PULL and PULL and I do not get it to move for nothing! I then screw it in a little more and pull and pull and pull, nothing! I then notice the screw head is getting bent from my pliers grabbing and pulling so I back it out and grab another, I do not want to break it off!
I start the new screw in the same hole and screw it in. I go a little further and notice now that as I turn the screw, the prop shaft is turning with me (the screw threads were rubbing the shaft, as the hole is angled towards the shaft remember, and turning it). After further inspection I determine its not going into the shaft, WHEW!, and then I see the GOLDEN LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS DARK, DIRTY, DINGY tunnel... THE SEAL IS COMING OUT MORE AND MORE WITH EACH TURN and the screw is not really going "in" further to the bearing housing (which is a good thing). I continue to slowly turn the screw until the outside seal (1 of 2, they are back to back in the gear house on the prop shaft, inside one keeps gear oil in, onutside one keeps water out -FYI) pops out, YES!! PRAISE THE WATER GODS!!! Then I see the what MAKES MY DAY! The interior, or second seal is ALSO coming out. A couple more gental turns and I have BOTH SEALS OUT!
I literally got off my creeper, seals in hand, and went SPRINTING around the front yard (Its now 11:15pm, again neighbors must think I am going crazy), into the house to show my feat off to my wife (who humbly smiles and says shes glad for me, could I go back outside I smell like gear oil). I HAD DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE! I had drilled IN my outboard, got out the seals, and not damaged anything! YAHOOOOOO!!
I spent the next hour or so putting the new seals in (had a right sized pipe to tap them in) and putting the prop back on. Filled her up with gear oil, raised and lowered the motor and NO LEAKING!!! YES!!!!!!!!!! By golly, I think I got the seals changed right, stopped the leaks, and all in time for the trip (barely... NOTE, slacking only hurts you!)!! Now the real test will to see if after the trip the gear oil comes out clean without any water (I could have other leaks I suppose but Im hoping not). Ill be back to update that but for now, 2 days away, ITS BOATING TIME!
Hope you enjoyed the story, and sharing in my accomplishment. I enjoy working on engines and am mechanically inclined BUT drilling outboards is not on my list of enjoyments! It can be done, it does work, but you wont be comfortable or getting much sleep thinking about it!
Happy Boating!
ChuckNDiscs
