Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

So the bow eye pulled out of the boat while going 60mph... boat started slipping off the trailer and dragged on the lower unit until I could find a driveway to pull into. Now there's a hole an inch or two in diameter in the lower unit... skeg is pretty much gone.

So my dad was going to see if he could get one of his friends to weld it, but I don't want to take all the guts out and I don't know if they can weld it with everything left inside.

I heard Marine-Tex epoxy is pretty damn good, so if I put a piece of metal over the hole and cover everything with Marine-Tex, is that a pretty good option for the rest of the summer?

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

So, no transom straps?

I'd guess Marine-Tex isn't gonna be the answer for a hole that big.

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

I would think IF everything inside is infact still okay, you should have it welded. Even if you have to take the guts out, I would anyway because I guarantee there is plenty of debris in there you don't want floating around. There is probably metal shavings, gravel, grit, etc that you won't be abel to get out without disaqssembly. If the marine tex/jb weld patch failed you would fry your lu and be many more $$ down than just the case. If it were mine I would try and find a new case at the minimum and transfer all of your parts over. The peice of mind would be worth it to me.

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

Yeah no transom straps, I had two straps on the back side of the boat, that's all that held it on, but it still was partway off the trailer.

I was just going to junk the boat, because I've put way too much into it already... so a new case is out of the question.

We hosed it out really well though, and we can't feel any more debris in there, so it should be pretty clean.

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

Holy hell, no you can't use MarineTex on that. Welding on the body of the unit would likely damage all of the gears inside. I'd definitely buy a new lower unit from SEI if I were you. If you band-aid that hole and end up sucking water, running gear oil dry,etc on the good upper half you still have, you will ruin the upper as well. Replace it.

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

haulnazz15 said:

Holy hell, no you can't use MarineTex on that. Welding on the body of the unit would likely damage all of the gears inside. I'd definitely buy a new lower unit from SEI if I were you. If you band-aid that hole and end up sucking water, running gear oil dry,etc on the good upper half you still have, you will ruin the upper as well. Replace it.

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Agree 100%

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

Ahhhhhhhhh that'll buff right out.

Welding it would likely warp it and make it unusable. You might find a decent used lower unit cheap.

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

We hosed it out really well though, and we can't feel any more debris in there, so it should be pretty clean.

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You intentionaly introduced water UNDER PRESSURE to the inside of your gearcase????

First - you didn't get everything out - you did manage to force some of it into places it never would have got by itself.
Second - WATER ON THE GEARCASE!!!! what part of that plan sounded like a good idea??

you have two options have it completely dissassembled, welded, and reassembled WITH NEW SEALS

OR

replace it

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

I was just going to junk the boat, because I've put way too much into it already... so a new case is out of the question.

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Patch it up with JB Weld or MarineTex or whatever you like and run it till it dies if it's all junk anyway. I bought a boat with an outdrive that had been running for over three years with a "slight" vibration in it. It was totally ate up with electrolysis, I knew I would have to replace it anyway. Went to drain the oil, and it was full of the cleanest water you ever saw, not a TRACE of oil to be seen. No wonder it was vibrating, the bearings were probably square.

Moral of the story is you can probably get away with a lot of crap if you don't mind trashing your outdrive, just make sure your Towboat membership is paid up! In the immortal words of Harry Callahan: "Do you feel lucky, punk?" It might last all summer, it might last 2 minutes. No way anyone here can say just from that pic!

Re: Hole in my lower unit... can I patch it with Marinetex?

I was just going to junk the boat, because I've put way too much into it already... so a new case is out of the question.

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Ayuh,... That case is already Scrap 'n Nothing more....