Small Water leak question, 9.8 hp model 110

[MTboatguy]

I am getting ready to go out fishing this weekend and put my 9.8 in the bucket tonight to fire up and double check things and noticed I have a small leak, after pulling the hood and looking around, I noticed the Cylinder block cover that is on the back of the power head that the plugs go through has a small crack in the upper left hand side where the bolt goes through as you are standing behind the motor, so I figured, I will pick a used one up off ebay, in looking at the offerings on there noticed quite a few guys are selling the same cover with the same crack! So I am figuring it is not that big a deal as you have a constant water source when running on the lake, the leak is small but a small amount of water does dribble around the top spark plug at times, I am wondering should I spend to much time being worried about this? The engine runs good, no over heating and pees water just fine when in the lake, but thought I would check.

Thanks.

 

[emckelvy]

If it doesn't short out the spark plug and cause running problems, it's more of an irritation than anything else. You might try wire-brushing the leak site then sealing with some black RTV. It'll likely be a short-term fix but there wouldn't be much pressure there and maybe it'll last the season. You could always re-do the RTV if it starts to leak again.

The alternative, of course, is to either fix it or live with it, unless it starts to leak more. Set up your eBay search to give you an alert when a cover pops up, maybe you'll find a decent one in time.

HTH............ed

 

[60sboater]

What year...I have a 1973 9.8 and will see if it has the same problem? Let us know if you fix it or it becomes more of an issue. Have a good day.