Oil/Gas leak from hole above prop.

Hi, this is my 1st post. I'm selling my boat which has a 1998 120 hp force outboard. I haven't run it for a year or so, but then I ran it yesterday for about 5 minutes with the hose connection providing water. It sputtered for a while but then smoothed out. It smokes a lot. I guess this is normal for this motor. I have always mixed my gas oil a little on the rich side. I've never had the motor serviced. I've just done the basic maintenance myself. The motor under the cowling is still like factory clean. The gas/oil is at least a year old, but I treated it with Stabil and the boat has been stored in my garage(Wisconsin).

Today, I notice that there is dark oil with a gas odor leaking out of the hole right above the prop on the right hand side of the motor(looking from behind boat)

I checked the lower unit oil. The level was fine and the color was dark, but not watery or milky. I changed the lower unit oil right away.

What is this hole? It is not listed in the manual and I can't find it online.

Any ideas what might be causing this leak? I've got more people coming over to look at it and I want to know if this is a major problem or not.

Thanks,

Eddie

Re: Oil/Gas leak from hole above prop.

This is simply normal unburned exhaust residue it leaks out the holes intended to let water out of the leg.