Is my 135 repairable? Badly rusted swivel pin.

[searay76searay]

Hello all,
I recently purchased a 94 Key West 1900DC with the original 135. The original owner whom I purchased the boat from has taken very good care of both the boat and outboard. He says that he has only run ethanol free gas, he religiously flushed the engine after every use with the installed flush kit, and the motor has good compression in all cylinders. I don't know the hours on the motor but I'm guessing under 1000 and it runs well and starts easily. As you can see from the pictures the swivel pin is badly rusted which I didn't notice until after I made the purchase. I know that this is a common problem and I've heard that these pins are often functional even when badly rusted but I'm still concerned about this one. I consider myself to be very good with a wrench, I've rebuilt motors in the past, (never an outboard though) and I have a well equipped garage including an engine hoist.My questions are these:
1. Does it look like I need to replace the swivel pin?
2. Could I possibly get by for a few outings if I took it easy?
3. How tough is it to pull the power head and what parts should I have handy if I'm planning on doing it?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Is my 135 repairable? Badly rusted swivel pin.

I have a '93 135HPV6 with a swivel pin that has some rust on it as well. Not as bad as yours, but it likes to make steering difficult. You might chip some rust off of it and see how much metal is rusted away. It is hard to tell from the picture. How is your lower rear cowling support. That also rusted pretty good on my motor.

The yoke will be easy to replace, but the swivel pin will be a PIA. You will need to pull the gearcase and powerhead, seperate the upper mounts from the casting and replace at least the upper mounting bolts and swivel pin. Likely you will not get the lower mounting bolts off either.

Good news, the swivel pin ($265) for my motor is NLA, as is the yoke. I guess it is off to the salvage yard.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Is my 135 repairable? Badly rusted swivel pin.

I have a '93 135HPV6 with a swivel pin that has some rust on it as well. Not as bad as yours, but it likes to make steering difficult. You might chip some rust off of it and see how much metal is rusted away. It is hard to tell from the picture. How is your lower rear cowling support. That also rusted pretty good on my motor.

The yoke will be easy to replace, but the swivel pin will be a PIA. You will need to pull the gearcase and powerhead, seperate the upper mounts from the casting and replace at least the upper mounting bolts and swivel pin. Likely you will not get the lower mounting bolts off either.

Good news, the swivel pin ($265) for my motor is NLA, as is the yoke. I guess it is off to the salvage yard.

The swivel pin your referencing is the high strength steel version like the one on the OP engine. These are NLA and the replacement is the Stainless Steel version at around 7-8 hundred.

The pic clearly shows the retaining ring has fallen off which means that most of the lower portion that the yoke slides onto is gone. The entire job will run about 1500.00 if you do it yourself. You have to pull the power head to get the pin out.

The one area that is probably going to give you problems are the bolts that hold the retainers for the lower mounts. You need to pull the covers off to see them but I can almost guarantee that you'll snap the heads off when you try to remove them even after a good soak with PB Blaster and heat. Once that happens you have to disassemble the entire unit and take the mid section to a shop that has an EDM (electronic drilling machine) to get the remain piece of the bolt out.

If you manage to get lucky, order a set of solid mounts instead of the stock ones. The engine will steer a lot better.

 

[searay76searay]

Re: Is my 135 repairable? Badly rusted swivel pin.

Thanks for the input, I knew I was in for some work. Fortunately I have found used swivel pins in good condition for $200 on ebay. What should I be prepared for when removing this powerhead as far as gaskets or things to look out for?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Is my 135 repairable? Badly rusted swivel pin.

You will need a powerhead gasket. Sometimes the easy way to get to the swivel pin is blocked by rust. Have a torch and some PB Blaster handy.

 

[searay76searay]

Re: Is my 135 repairable? Badly rusted swivel pin.

Are the upper mounts held in place by being sandwiched between the powerhead and the drive shaft housing? Any recommendations for removing the mount bolts? Can the bolts attaching the swivel pin/yoke to the outboard be removed without removing the mounts?

 

[polecats]

Re: Is my 135 repairable? Badly rusted swivel pin.

Wow. looks just like my 1989 135hp mariner pin. It's was getting very hard to steer. Thought it was the teleflex.It wasn't. I didn't realize that grease was not going all the way thru the shaft tube. Replaced the zerk fitting,heated it up, banged it with a big hammer and got some grease in there. Gonna get another season out of it..... Good luck

 

[Dukedog]

Re: Is my 135 repairable? Badly rusted swivel pin.

Goggle is your friend. Shop around on some of tha different boating sites ie: Scream and Fly etc. You can buy a complete mid in good shape probably less than just a swivel pin. Looks like you might end up destroying some of tha parts just to get everything apart including powerhead studs and/or exhaust adapter. I just bought a real nice 2001 20" mid (complete with trim) for 400 bucks (byuboyz.com).......just a suggestion.