Replace bearing carrier o-ring on 1974 85 hp 85493

[jdaghir]

Hi all,

I have a new to me 1974 Evinrude 85 hp, 85493b. I have rebuilt the water pump, changed the lower unit oil including new nylon washers on the oil drain and vent plugs, rebuilt the carburetors, new plugs and a complete link & sync.

I took it for a test drive and it start and runs nicely, but a post shake-down inspection shows that I have milky oil in the lower unit and must have a bad seal. I did not do a leak test to determine the location of the leak.

I ordered a complete lower unit seal kit from Sierra which includes a new o-ring for the bearing carrier.

I know the bearing carriers can sometimes be stubborn to remove. Is the o-ring on it a common point of failure? Should I go ahead and replace it since the kit includes one or leave it alone and only replace it if it stills leaks? I do have access to a puller & a slide hammer.

On a related note, the water pump rebuild kit included a new style plastic housing with an o-ring type of rubber seal on the bottom of the housing. I glued the seal into the housing with gasket adhesive (3M 847 Scotch-Weld) and then glued the housing/seal assembly to the bottom wear plate per the instructions in a Seloc manual (the factory manual doesn't have instructions for the new style housing with a seal).

I'm concerned I may damage the seal while removing the water pump housing since it is glued to both the housing and the wear plate. Is the seal available as a separate item? I can only find it as part of the housing assembly, Evinrude # 389157. If I damage it, should I bite the bullet and buy a new housing (about $50) or reuse the old style metal housing without a seal?

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge!

- Jeff

 

[jdaghir]

I forgot to mention - I don't believe this motor has ever seen saltwater. From searching through old posts, that seems to be a major contributor to difficult to remove bearing carriers.

Unless someone advises against it, I'll probably attempt to remove the bearing carrier and replace the o-rings.

Thanks!

 

[racerone]

Easy to replace the o-ring on the driveshaft bearing carrier .----Should not be hard to remove the propshaft bearing carrier to replace the seals , o-ring and the wee o-rings on the 4 bolts.