1987 85hp force - Prop stiff?

[cairngorms]

Hi,
When I tried turning the prop (neutral and motor off) the prop was pretty stiff with no free rotation - is this normal? I am anyway going to change the gear case oil.

Thanks for your advice.

[jerryjerry05]

Remove the prop,check for fishing line.It should spin easily.If the boat sets on land a lot, spray WD-40 or a silicone spray on the seal.The seals dry out and become stiff.
Change the gear oil and look for chunks or metal shavings or water.
Make sure you drain from the right spot.See pic.J

[emoney]

Also make sure you're actually in neutral. Don't believe the shift control box,
look under the cowling and verify it. I just went through a shift linkage replacement so I've become quite the expert....lol

[cairngorms]

thanks for the advice - I took the prop off and no fishing line.

I also tried to remove the drain plug, but this was completely rounded so no luck there. I was advised to try an easy out drill bit...... any thoughts or further advice on this would be appreciated.

Thanks

[eight tracker]

get a dremel tool or other tool with a cutting wheel on it and reslot the screwhead maybe into a phillips head style and try that or drill out the center and use an ez-out..


tom

[emoney]

You definitely want that out because it'll be pretty hard to change the
lower unit oil without it. I'm too chicken to try myself and always end
up having to pay somebody when an important screw brakes.

Good luck

[cairngorms]

Done..... The ezout didn't work as the bit material was softer than the plug i was trying to extract (made in china), so i drilled out the plug and re-tapped the hole and that worked out just fine!

[Skydiver Scott]

I just had the EZ OUT break when I was trying to remove my stripped drain plug on my '87 Force 85 lower..... Needless to say I had a few choice words considering it should have been a simple job to get the lower oil out and replaced for the winter...

Separate from my frustration, I am going to have to do the same thing and drill out the hole to get the stripped plug and now the broken EX Tap out to drain the lower and re-tap it. What size did you drill it out to? What type of plug did you use after you drilled it out and tapped it again? If someone has some advice on this I would appreciate it....

Scott C.

[jason32038]

If you have TORX bits see if you can hammer one in the drain plug and put a crescent wrench on it to unscrew. Worked for me...if it comes out replace the plug.