1973 Mercury 1150/115hp - water leak from lower cylinder head cover

[bradt]

My 115 merc appears to be leaking water from the lower portion of the cylinder head cover. As this is situated behind the lower engine cowl I will need to remove the cowl to repair/replace. Do I have to remove the engine from the boat to repair/remove cover? Do I have to remove the mounting support and trim tilt ect to do this? I would appreciate some advice.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 1973 Mercury 1150/115hp - water leak from lower cylinder head cover

You can remove the cylinder head water jacket cover without removing the powerhead or motor from the boat. Remove the cowling suports and the very lowest pat of the cowling (4 phillips self-taping screws), and the lower cowl should move enough to get to all the bolts. Be aware that those bolts are 1/4-20, so they will break easily. Also, some blocks had bolts and nuts, rather than threads cut into the block. Still others had tapped threads, but you could drill thru and use nuts instead, if the original bolts broke. I recommend a through inspection to see what you have on the block.