LU oil in waterpump?

[Kajun37]

almost done getting my 1990 120hp force back together after a powerhead swap...all i had left to do was swap out lower units with one i bought off ebay almost 2 yrs ago....well i pull the ebay LU out the crate and was gonna put a new impeller on it..pull off the housing and find lower unit oil inside the housing.... now this LU has been upside down in a crate for almost 2 yrs...do you think it could of slowly leaked out? or do you think i have a bad seal? heres some pics...

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: LU oil in waterpump?

It is possible that it slowly leaked, if the unit was upside down, but that seal is supposed to hold more than 10 pounds pressure. I would not trust it. So, remove the other 3 screws from the lower plate, pry it up off the lower unit and replace the relatively cheap (around 20 bucks) seal. While you are at it, remove the anode from the prop shaft, remove the spool and replace the two O ring seals on the spool and the prop shaft seal. For about 50 bucks you will have an almost new lower unit you can trust not to leak.

 

[Kajun37]

Re: LU oil in waterpump?

what about doing a pressure check on it before changing the seals? i'm trying to do without breaking into it..i dont have alot of the special tools needed to work on LU's

 

[JUSTINTIME]

Re: LU oil in waterpump?

what about doing a pressure check on it before changing the seals? i'm trying to do without breaking into it..i dont have alot of the special tools needed to work on LU's

u could do that

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: LU oil in waterpump?

Sure you can pressure test it but look at it this way: You already know you have lower unit gear lube where it should not be. The lower unit is already dropped and the water pump is off. Most of the work is already done.

You need only to remove three more 7/16 head bolts to remove the plate. Then you just drive out the seal and press in the new one. NO special tools required--7/16 wrench, punch, hammer, and large socket or something similar to use to hammer in the new seal. Total time if you have never done it before: 1/2 hour. And that seal is somewhere between 17 and 26 bucks--a lot less than it will cost you if you mess up the gears.