Hmm, missing a part of my leg

[nola mike]

40 mile jaunt today for lunch. Coolant leak may be stopped for now, but when I got home I noticed that I was missing part #4, and maybe 3 from the below diagram. What exactly is #3? I won't have access to civilization for a while. Looks like the parts are only there to keep water out of the Allen bolt inside. Could I just epoxy or silicone a piece of plastic over there until I can get the parts?
https://www.mercruiserparts.com/Sho...r=70&bdesc=DRIVESHAFT+HOUSING+AND+DRIVE+GEARS

 

[Alumarine]

Part number 4 is a welch plug which I believe is used to cover a hole from the casting process.
Part number 3 is probably still there. Its screwed into the drive on the other side of the cavity that #4 is covering.
You can go to a dealer or maybe even an auto parts store and get a new welch plug and bang it in.
The concave side goes in.
I used 3M 4200 to seal mine, nail polish would work too.

 

[nola mike]

Took a closer look in that hole, and saw my shift slide in there. Trying to remember my anatomy, but have I now exposed my shift cable to water? Anything else that I need to be concerned about?

 

[Fishermark]

Yes, you have now exposed the cable to water. You will need to seal that plug up and evaluate your cable. If it were me, I would put a new cable on.

 

[nola mike]

Figured as much, thanks. Found a plastic plug that fit perfect, siliconed it in. Probably still have water in there though. Will wait till the off season and replace the cable then when I pull the drive.

 

[nola mike]

No Title

There was a ton of water in there, and the cable became sticky the next day. Replaced the cable. Couldn't find a suitable plug, ended up using the below coin, which fits perfectly. Epoxied that in. There was again water in the shift cavity, so I pulled the drive, removed the cable and blew everything dry.

 

[GA_Boater]

Is that called the 50 cent fix? :smile: Whatever works, right?

 

[nola mike]

Ironically, the correct part costs 16x as much. Literally throwing money at the problem