New to me 1967 Evinrude 9.5hp Sportwin

[scout-j-m]

I pulled the LU yesterday in effort to get a look at the shift rod boot. I got the three screws out of it's holding plate but got stuck there. Is the water tube supposed to pull out (down away from the power head)? It would seem impossible to remove the retaining plate boot with the water tube present due to its bend.

I also inspected the seal on top of the water pump housing. It looked good although the seal is all I saw...I remember seeing mention in another post of a washer or something which I didn't see.

 

[racerone]

On this particular motor design the water tube does not pull out.

 

[scout-j-m]

On this particular motor design the water tube does not pull out.

Thanks. Does it screw out or do you force the plate and boot out over the tube somehow? Or does it require power head removal?

 

[racerone]

And no it does not screw out either.

 

[scout-j-m]

So that just leaves powerhead removls? I guess if I have to do that I might as well replace it no matter what, plus other larger exhaust seal.

 

[scout-j-m]

I fiddled with the motor again this evening. It seemed to be running hot (head getting up to the 170's on my IR thermometer) so I rechecked the thermostat and it wasn't opening until about 165 deg on the stove but stayed open until it got back down to the 140's. It doesn't have a temperature marking on it so I just ordered a new one.

While testing how cool it ran with the thermostat removed, I began to search for exhaust gases coming from up inside the lower cowling. There was definite exhaust coming up from the front side of the powerhead. I could see where the shift rod went down into the leg and didn't see any distinctively coming from that opening. It appeared to me that the main powerhead seal was leaking towards the front.

Does that main exhaust seal on the powerhead typically leak in one location?

 

[scout-j-m]

Since I last posted I became confident that my problems were an exhaust leak so I ordered a new shift rod boot and I separated the shell over the weekend and have the powerhead removed. The main exhaust seal looks more like the culprit now as it seems bent down in the front which is where I believe the leak was coming from based on the puff of smoke I saw coming from that location after a choked/rich startup. That will be a straightforward repair after I find a good deal on a seal. Maybe someone can recommend one that is affordable.

However, I am hung up on removing the shift rod. The manual acted like it could have been pulled out before removing the powerhead all of the way but that is not possible. Will I have to separate the exhaust leg from the powerhead to do so?