I recently discovered blue-green gear oil seeping from the water intake holes in the front of the lower unit. Draining the gear oil, I got a lot of clear water before getting milky oil followed by blue-green oil. I ordered the seal kit from iboats, then set about figuring out where everything goes.
I started by shifting the control handle into the fully forward position, then removed the 5 nuts holding the lower unit in place. A few gentle taps with a rubber mallet and a block of wood got things moving in the right direction. I carefully removed the lower unit and carried it into the garage where I mounted a homebrew jig in a bench vise and C-clamped the lower unit into the jig. I removed the water pump housing and the shifter top housing, being careful not to rotate the shifter. The water leak problem turned out to be the top seal under the water pump. The drive shaft seals and the shifter seal and O-ring proved easier than I expected, so I installed the new parts and reassembled the water pump housing with its new gaskets (I had replaced the impeller a couple of months ago). I rotated the drive shaft by hand a quarter turn or so to get the key aligned with the keyway in the impeller before tightening everything down.
That's when everything started going sideways. I got a block of wood to block the prop so I could remove the prop nut, and I tried to turn the driveshaft clockwise to rotate the prop into position to hold the block in place. The driveshaft was locked up. There is a little play, but beyond maybe 1/16 of a turn either direction, it hits a solid obstacle (metallic clank) of some sort. I went ahead and removed the prop, the propshaft carrier and the propshaft, then looked inside to see if I could see any obstruction to the driveshaft's rotation. Nothing obvious appeared. The play in the shaft rotated the gear a fraction of a turn as well, and there are no visible obstructions.
Next I started working on removing the propshaft seals from the outer end of the carrier. Did the factory glue those seals in place, or what!? My cheap junk slide hammer with its seal removal arms would not adjust the arms out firmly against the sides of the seal, so I managed to mangle the outer seal without budging it. Does anyone have any suggestions short of throwing the Force 120 into the nearest dumpster? I'm just about at my wits' end.
Any help with unlocking the drive shaft and removing the seals from the propshaft carrier will be greatly appreciated!
I started by shifting the control handle into the fully forward position, then removed the 5 nuts holding the lower unit in place. A few gentle taps with a rubber mallet and a block of wood got things moving in the right direction. I carefully removed the lower unit and carried it into the garage where I mounted a homebrew jig in a bench vise and C-clamped the lower unit into the jig. I removed the water pump housing and the shifter top housing, being careful not to rotate the shifter. The water leak problem turned out to be the top seal under the water pump. The drive shaft seals and the shifter seal and O-ring proved easier than I expected, so I installed the new parts and reassembled the water pump housing with its new gaskets (I had replaced the impeller a couple of months ago). I rotated the drive shaft by hand a quarter turn or so to get the key aligned with the keyway in the impeller before tightening everything down.
That's when everything started going sideways. I got a block of wood to block the prop so I could remove the prop nut, and I tried to turn the driveshaft clockwise to rotate the prop into position to hold the block in place. The driveshaft was locked up. There is a little play, but beyond maybe 1/16 of a turn either direction, it hits a solid obstacle (metallic clank) of some sort. I went ahead and removed the prop, the propshaft carrier and the propshaft, then looked inside to see if I could see any obstruction to the driveshaft's rotation. Nothing obvious appeared. The play in the shaft rotated the gear a fraction of a turn as well, and there are no visible obstructions.
Next I started working on removing the propshaft seals from the outer end of the carrier. Did the factory glue those seals in place, or what!? My cheap junk slide hammer with its seal removal arms would not adjust the arms out firmly against the sides of the seal, so I managed to mangle the outer seal without budging it. Does anyone have any suggestions short of throwing the Force 120 into the nearest dumpster? I'm just about at my wits' end.
Any help with unlocking the drive shaft and removing the seals from the propshaft carrier will be greatly appreciated!
