HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

[sramelyk]

I have an 80 HP Mercury outboard.. Its probably 20 years old.. It has an aluminum prop on it, and the prop is in really bad shape. I bought a stainless steel prop and went to replace it and can't get the aluminum prop off.. I have talked to a few local boat repair shops and everyone confirms there is no pin or anything I am missing and suggest that the prop has just seized on the shaft. So.. I have done everything to get this prop off.. Short of cutting it with a cutting wheel.. Any suggestions? I have done the obvious lubing, beating with a mallet, wheel pulling stuff.. PLEASE HELP!!

 

[ledgefinder]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

Try a search here - previous discussions.<br /><br />You want to apply heat to the inner hub with a torch - then you can drive it off. Getting at the hub is the trick. Recommend you cut each of the blades off (easy aluminum). The either cut through the outer prop body lengthwise (if you have an appropriate tool), or drill a series of holes lengthwise and split the outer prop body with a chisel. <br /><br />Let us know how this works for you!

 

[NathanY]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

If you will slightly loosen the bolt, I think you might be able to use a dead blow hammer and hit the nut while applying pressure to the prop. Aluminum usually wont seize to steel. Unless the splines in the prop are steel.

 

[sramelyk]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

Thanks!! I will give it a try.. The cutting anyways.. Not sure what you mean by heating the hub.. The actual shaft that the prop is on, is this the HUB? I heated that "SHAFT" with a torch for awhile and it didn't help.. I have gotten to the point of cutting. Was just afraid of cutting to deep.. I will try to go down a bit and then chisel the rest of the way... Hope this works..<br /><br />Also.. Why cut the blades off? Just to make it easier to manipulate?

 

[MercMark]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

Heating the shaft is going to have the opposite effect to what you want. Unless you're trying to alternately heat and cool the whole assembly to crack any corrosion. You want the hub of the prop to get larger while keeping the shaft cool.<br /><br />Heat the innermost cylinder of the prop, that's right next to the shaft.

 

[jim dozier]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

Ledgefinder was talking about the inner hub of the prop which is separated from the propellor blade part by a rubber doughnut sleeve. If you heat the propeller the rubber will prevent the hub from getting hot. If you remove the blade and the center section of the aluminum part of the propeller you can probably remove the rubber sleeve and heat the inner metal hub which is what is stuck to your prop shaft. I wouldn't heat the prop shaft because you may damage the internal seals on the prop shaft inside the gearbox.<br /><br />Heat the inner hub and cool it down with some WD40 or some penetrating oil (watch out for flash fire). Do this several times and then try and remove the stuck inner hub. If you have a pulley or gear remover or something similar that might help.

 

[sramelyk]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

YES!! My prop is off!! Couldn't have done it without the help.. Didn't realize that a prop was more than one piece.. Heres what I did..<br /><br />After cutting the OUTER portion of the prop away with a die grinder and cutting wheel (NO EASY TASK), I put a gear puller on the inner hub.. This is after I tried the gear puller on the OUTER portion, which only resulted in the puller digging into the aluminum, and with some time and effort the hub pulled off.. It was REALLY seized! Thanks again for everyones advice!<br /><br />Now. I have a new question.. Whats the best grease to use to prevent this from happening again? NeverEase is what I have heard a few people suggest.. Any more suggestions?

 

[ledgefinder]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

OMC gasket compound, or outboard motor grease are two suggestions. Not sure about NeverSeize. You want to avoid antiseize compounds not made for marine use - some of them cause strong corrosion.

 

[sharkcat]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

mercury 2-4-C grease apply to splines on the shaft & prop & remove & re grease at least twice a season.You can use this grease for most applications on your outboard. Avoid copper based anti seize products as the dont work in a marine enviroment.

 

[NathanY]

Re: HELP ME? 80 HP Mercury...

White lithium grease also works good, and it only costs about 50 cents for a small tube.