Do I need a gasket for my flush plug?

[gloposailor]

Thanks in advance for your help,

I have a 2006 Mercury 4 HP 4-stroke long shaft outboard motor on my sailboat, and I noticed that there is not a gasket between the flush plug bolt and the driveshaft housing. There is a gasket shown in the parts diagram, and it is mentioned but not shown in the owner's manual. The gasket is listed as obsolete, however, at boats.net. Is this gasket necessary or is the flush plug bolt sufficient on its own?

Thanks,

Chase

 

[Boat Doctor1]

yes!!

 

[Dekker500]

Yes, it'd be necessary. When I was looking for "current" gaskets, I found marine-specific ones that were something like $1 each! I bought a couple (I was in a hurry), but then I later brought the unused one (and the bolts for flush, drain, and vent) to an auto parts store, found appropriate sized ones, and bought an ample supply of fibre washers for all the drains for around $0.15 each. Now I have no excuse to not change them every time I take a screw out. If you keep the sizes and part numbers written in your service manual (or other reference location) you can buy more washers without having to bring in the bolt it matches.

 

[gloposailor]

[USER][/USER] Thank you for your replies! I picked up the appropriate gaskets at a Mercury dealer yesterday, and I will take a spare to the auto parts store and find an affordable substitute for my future needs. Your advice is much appreciated!