[buckhorn]

hi all, newbie to forum here. ijust baught ã 1980 evinrude 9.9 and would like some explanation/comforting on what i found on my maiden voyage.
first off, i put water muffs on the motor, and she started up fine, sounded good with steady stream of water out the piss-hole. after i put it away i noticed a small black leak (smelling like fuel) from behind the prop. other posts here say this is likely normal residual wken using muffs to start the year. but after the first live run in the lake, i noticed ã little milky brown liquid (again smelling like fuel) from behind the prop, from the water intake holes, and from where the lower unit mounts to the rest of the shaft.
what is this? residual oil mixing with water after service (the thrust bearing was recently replaced), or is it a bad seal somewhere? if it is seals, what would i be expecting in repair costs?

thanks in advance.

[Whoopbass]

I doubt the oil is coming from your lower unit. Just remove a screw and see if its milky.
The oil you see is just gunk from inside the leg housing and is normal. I guess you could drop the lower unit and pressure wash the carbon build up if you want it to stop.

[buckhorn]

thanks whoopbass,
i was hoping for a simple (cheap) explanation. i took it out on sunday (may 4) and can still see trace amounts of jet black fluid on the skeg, though nothing has dripped onto my drop cloth.

i got a great deal on the boat/motor/trailer package, but my wife would not be too impressed if i had to put a couple hundred bucks into it right from the get go.

[buckhorn]

hey all,

i just checked the lower unit oil - milky white. is it likely i have two different issues here (LU leak, and carbon buildup)? btw, the two fluids seem completely different - viscosity, odour, colour etc.

[iwombat]

I think you got that right.

Are you replacing the washers when you change LU lube? If not, that could be your water intrusion problem.

[buckhorn]

replacing the washers and lube tomorrow. the seller told me (and gave me the bill) that the thrust bearing was just replaced. is this related, or should this LU issue have been noticed at the time of repair?