Mariner 2.5 non-shift cooling / exhaust question

[Ralpho711]

I got an older Mariner 2.5 hp non-shift engine from a friend. It seems to run good but the driveshaft housing is broken where the tiller handle would be connected. When the tiller handle mount was broken off it left a small hole (about the size of half a pencil eraser) in the driveshaft housing. I put the engine on my canoe and tried it last week. When running the engine both cooling water and exhaust come out of the hole in the driveshaft housing. Cooling water also comes out of the hose connected to the water jacket / cylinder where I assume it should be coming out.

Before I continue, my friend connected a short tiller handle to the lifting handle on the front of the engine to replace the broken tiller handle. Thats how I'm steering this thing.

After running the engine awhile, I realized that cooling water probably shouldn't be coming out of the side of the driveshaft housing so when I got home I sealed the hole with some PC-7. Since sealing the hole there seems to be more water coming out of the water jacket / cylinder hose.

Now for the questions:

Should cooling water and exhaust be mixing in the driveshaft housing on the way to the exhaust holes?

Is it possible that the water tube is leaking even though I'm getting good flow through the water jacket?

Anything else I should be concerned with?

Thanks for any input,

Ralph

 

[Wingedwheel]

Re: Mariner 2.5 non-shift cooling / exhaust question

Alot of times on those smaller engines the exhaust and water come out the same place.