Man what a day!
I was driving along (at full throttle) yesterday in my portabote with 2007 Tohatsu 5hp engine, when all of a sudden there was a crunching noise and the engine stopped. It sounded like a gearcase problem. The propeller was very tight and the pull chord did not want extend. I was unable to re-start the engine and I had to be towed in.
Yesterday evening, I took the gearcase apart and was very surprised to see that the small Bevel Gear (Bevel Gear B) was severely damaged. Half the teeth were missing, the rest were damaged. Bevel Gear A was also severely damaged with some teeth missing and the rest damaged or flattened to some degree. Bevel Gear A looked ok, there may be some slight damage, I will need to take a closer look a little later. There was also some slight nicks and scratches inside the gearcase, most likely due to all the metal flying about the place in there.
I will post up some pictures of the damage later. I was working in the Garage last night and the light was no good for pictures.
Has anyone ever heard of such a problem before? This engine would see light use and I am very careful about oil and lower unit oil changes. I had only done the lower unit oil in February
I was thinking of emailing Tohatsu to see if they might have some insight. Perhaps there was a defective bevel?? Does anyone know if they have a helpful customer service department?
For the repair, I was going to smooth out the nicks and scratches inside the gearcase (wet sand) and the replace the bevels, but I am not sure if this is the correct course of action?? Anyone got any experience of this type of repair? Should I be looking at a replacement lower unit??
I am based in Ireland there are not many(one) Tohatsu dealers and most likely I will be overcharged for the parts. Does anyone know a US company that might be able to get the parts to Ireland at reasonable shipping costs. I’ve ordered from the US before and it’s normally the shipping costs that are high. Also, if anyone out there knows of a replacement lower unit, preferably used, I would be very interested.
I will post up some pictures of the damage a little later.
Thanks Guys,
Kevin
I was driving along (at full throttle) yesterday in my portabote with 2007 Tohatsu 5hp engine, when all of a sudden there was a crunching noise and the engine stopped. It sounded like a gearcase problem. The propeller was very tight and the pull chord did not want extend. I was unable to re-start the engine and I had to be towed in.
Yesterday evening, I took the gearcase apart and was very surprised to see that the small Bevel Gear (Bevel Gear B) was severely damaged. Half the teeth were missing, the rest were damaged. Bevel Gear A was also severely damaged with some teeth missing and the rest damaged or flattened to some degree. Bevel Gear A looked ok, there may be some slight damage, I will need to take a closer look a little later. There was also some slight nicks and scratches inside the gearcase, most likely due to all the metal flying about the place in there.
I will post up some pictures of the damage later. I was working in the Garage last night and the light was no good for pictures.
Has anyone ever heard of such a problem before? This engine would see light use and I am very careful about oil and lower unit oil changes. I had only done the lower unit oil in February
I was thinking of emailing Tohatsu to see if they might have some insight. Perhaps there was a defective bevel?? Does anyone know if they have a helpful customer service department?
For the repair, I was going to smooth out the nicks and scratches inside the gearcase (wet sand) and the replace the bevels, but I am not sure if this is the correct course of action?? Anyone got any experience of this type of repair? Should I be looking at a replacement lower unit??
I am based in Ireland there are not many(one) Tohatsu dealers and most likely I will be overcharged for the parts. Does anyone know a US company that might be able to get the parts to Ireland at reasonable shipping costs. I’ve ordered from the US before and it’s normally the shipping costs that are high. Also, if anyone out there knows of a replacement lower unit, preferably used, I would be very interested.
I will post up some pictures of the damage a little later.
Thanks Guys,
Kevin
