Signs your outboard was once at the bottom of a lake or bay

[JasonAych]

I obtained a twin to my 53 Sea King 5 hp this weekend. To make a long story short, I had complete working powerhead from a 51 Sea Bee 5hp on hand which was what was wrong with this one. Swapped out the power heads and now I have a partially functioning outboard. Only runs as long as it takes for a bowl of fuel to get through it. What a gas hog !! I have the tank soaking with kerosene at the moment.

Sign 1) Well as you may have guessed, no water pumping. Took the lower unit off (I am really good at this now from the other one). Turns out the water pump including all the intakes were packed/encased in a mud and grease mixture that smelled like a swamp or storm drain. This was good and bad. In a weird way, I think it preserved the impellor. I took it out and the blades just about sprung out straight.

Sign 2) I started tearing into the old powerhead and found that it is rusted solid with no chance of revival.

Question? I also found out how well that red sealant (reminds me of red locktite) holds. Is there any trick to separating parts joined with this stuff? MEK thinner or something?

Sign 3) The ignition system was also encased in mud.

Sign 4) When I first got it home I had to power wash a layer of grit off of it.

What are the chances this thing was at the bottom of a lake?

 

[ezeke]

Re: Signs your outboard was once at the bottom of a lake or bay

......
Question? I also found out how well that red sealant (reminds me of red locktite) holds. Is there any trick to separating parts joined with this stuff? MEK thinner or something?

Heat, if it is red locktite.

From the Loctite FAQ:

"Q7: I cannot get an assembly apart where a threadlocker was used. What solvent will break the threadlocker down?

A. No solvent will wick into the joint to break the threadlocker down. This is either hand-tool removable at room temperature; if not, it requires high temperatures of 450-600?F (212-316?C) to separate parts. The products are thermoset plastics in the cured state that soften at higher temperatures. Thus, you need to disassemble while at the higher softening-point temperature. Do not let it cool down first. Otherwise, it will resoldify. Solvents like methyl ethyl keytone and methylene chloride can be used for clean up of residue only after disassembly."

 

[JasonAych]

Re: Signs your outboard was once at the bottom of a lake or bay

Heat, if it is red locktite.

Was trying to avoid heat since we are dealing with an aluminum cylinder jugs, aluminim crank case and aluminum side covers. Besides, the stuff must be heat resistent since the block engine gets hot. Juts reminds me of locktite, don't think it actually is. More of a gummy version. I can try heat since these parts are pretty much scrap on this particular engine but i was looking for a trick for future use.

 

[bktheking]

Re: Signs your outboard was once at the bottom of a lake or bay

What are the chances this thing was at the bottom of a lake?

I'd say pretty good.

 

[ezeke]

Re: Signs your outboard was once at the bottom of a lake or bay

Was trying to avoid heat since we are dealing with an aluminum cylinder jugs, aluminim crank case and aluminum side covers. Besides, the stuff must be heat resistent since the block engine gets hot. Juts reminds me of locktite, don't think it actually is. More of a gummy version. I can try heat since these parts are pretty much scrap on this particular engine but i was looking for a trick for future use.

Most gasket sealers dissolve in time with methyl ethyl keytone.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Signs your outboard was once at the bottom of a lake or bay

You could carefully pry things with a very thin putty knife, but be careful to not gouge any of the surfaces and don't injure yourself and definately don't force anything to hard.