1991 25 horsepower Lower leg unit question?

Hello to everyone,
I have a question on my 1991 25 horsepower outboard motor. Today I was draining/filling the lower leg unit with new gear lube and when I went to install the upper plug in it it would not tighten up for me. I believe it is striped out becuase some of the metal came out when I removed the bolt to see what was wrong with it. Is there anyway to fix my upper lower leg unit vent plug or am I up the creek with my lower leg unit and also I am going to have to fix my left pontoon becuase the plug in it has bad threads and the plug that goes intot the aluminum toon is striped out so I need help there also. I just bought this Pontoon Boat last Saturday and I am having bad luck I am hoping to get out ontot the water next weekend if it is nice and warm out. I am stressing and hopefully I will be in luck which I need at this moment. Bob

Re: 1991 25 horsepower Lower leg unit question?

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Re: 1991 25 horsepower Lower leg unit question?

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Re: 1991 25 horsepower Lower leg unit question?

Can someone answer my question above on my Johnson 25 horsepower Outboard lower leg unit plugs? I really appreciate it. Thanks Agian, Bob

Re: 1991 25 horsepower Lower leg unit question?

Sounds like you have a stripped thread. You can repair the threads with a thread repair kit. They go for about $30 at RedRooster auto stores. However, since you will be creating metal shavings by doing this, you will need to flush them out of the lower unit, or do your very best to keep them from getting into the lower unit itself...you wouldn't want to damage anything by accident.

Same with the pontoon, though the plug size of that may be bigger than a simple thread repair kit can handle. That may just have to be done at a shop that can weld the pontoon and re tap the threads. Should be relatively cheap to have them do.

Your other option would be to take some JB weld and take the drain plug and lubricate the drainplug with a coating of grease, then run a gob of JB weld around it, put it in the cleaned and scuffed hole in the pontoon, fix into position with tape, etc and wait for it to cure. Then you should be able to unscrew the drain plug if you kept the JB weld from adhering to the plug properly.

Re: 1991 25 horsepower Lower leg unit question?

--UPDATE--

I repaired both my motor gear lube upper vent screw and the pontoon boat drain plug. What I did was bought a 3/8" by 18 number of threads per inch pipe rethreader and retapped the toon plug hole and reinstalled the new plug with teflon tape wrapped around the threads on the plug. I also installed the lower leg unit upper vent plug by using a helicoil and the bolt tightened up but there seems to be a very slow seepage of gear oil lube comming from around that bolt and it looks staright and I also used a brand new o-ring to boot. I was thinking that I could use a real good sealant and install over that bolt just to be on the safe side to prevent water from getting inside that bolt to the lower leg unit. The motor is a Johnson 25 horsepower motor on a 1991 Lowe Pontoon boat so it will not be going that fast anyway so if I use a good quality sealant marine grade and coverthat bolt with sealant that will prevent the water from seeping past that bolt just for safety and I am planning on buying a bigger motor anyway next year so I don't want to sink alot of money in this 25 horsepower Johnson motor. Let me know what to do. Like I said the bolt looks square and it is seated tightly without stripping it again inside its recess. Thanks Bob:redface: