What a great website! Full of great information to us amatuer boat mechanic wannabee's(meaning me) I recently picked this boat up with a 1968 Evinrude 85 HP engine. When the motor runs, the visible discharge of water is very minimal (only droplets). There was also milky gear oil in the the gearcase. I dropped the lower unit and made up the suggested pressure test kit from this site. I found that the gearcase was loosing pressure within about 1 minute. Using the soapy water, I found that the leak was coming from the "O" ring around the prop shaft. I replaced the "O" ring and it is holding 5 lbs for about 45 minutes now. I will go out in a minute and increase the pressure and hopefully it will hold that pressure also.<br /> Back to my current problem. I opened up the water pump expecting to find a dry rotted impeller. Much to my surprise, the impeller looked brand new. I showed it to my neighbor who is a mechanic (not a boat mechanic) and he thought it looked brand new. I found that the seal around the drive shaft was bad, so I drove to my local boat shop (1 hr. away) and purchased a new seal - those pickers are expensive. Anyway, while I was there, the parts man suggested that I blow through the water tube to see if it has an obstruction.<br /> Now, there are two copper tubes running up into the upper housing. I am guessing that one is to carry the water up and one is the return line? When I blow into either tube, there is air coming back down the other tube - however, if I hold my thumb over the other line while blowing, I can hear air coming from somewhere else up in the upper compartment somewhere. Is this normal? Or do I have a leak up there somewhere? Also, when I blow into the tubes - it isn't as easy as just breathing. It does take a small amount of effort to blow through the tubes. Is this normal?<br /> Thank you for any advice. I am looking forward to making this site a regular stop in future web visits.<br /><br />Eldon
