Water pump / bearing housing queston.. Help

Hello, I recently received a 65 Evinrude Sportwin 9.5. I rebuilt the Carb and replaced the head gasket. The water pump housing was shot, so i ordered a whole new water pump [$110]. While installing, I removed the bearing housing seal from the bearing housing [which sits under the water pump], in my water pump rebuild kit there are two seals that resemble the one removed from the bearing housing. One is slightly larger than the other. I put the smaller seal in the housing, and only had to tap it lightly with a rubber hammer. But the larger seal looks more like the original one, but It will not go into the bearing housing. It is just a hair rounder than the hole.

Well, I took the motor out over the weekend for a spin, the water pump did GOOD. The motor ran OK. But yesterday I dropped the lower unit to adjust the shift linkage and I notice gear oil on my water pump. I checked the oil in the gear case, and there was some signs of water.

So now I'm thinking the larger seal may be the right one? Why are there two seals in this kit? Does the bearing housing have to be heated to insert the new seal? Any ADVICE?

Re: Water pump / bearing housing queston.. Help

Bump bump.

Re: Water pump / bearing housing queston.. Help

You do not need to heat the housing to install the seal.
Was the kit you used an oem kit or an aftermarket (sierra) kit? The after market kits will usually be used on several applications and will have extra parts left over.

Re: Water pump / bearing housing queston.. Help

Hi Martin- I have the same exact motor & was trying to figure out the same thing. Getting the bearing seal out of the old water pump housing took forever and I had to mangle the seal to get it out of the housing after more than an hour of working on it. Later I ordered a copy of the service manual and it says that a OMC seal puller and OMC seal installer tool is needed to get the old one out and put the new one in. Both tools are insanely expensive, so I just bought a new lower unit from someone on ebay and used that one that was in there since I too was unable to get the new seal to go in. All this may not help much except that I've gone through the same thing and based on the experience I'd say that it has to be the larger seal. If the replacement is an issue I'll just have an outboard mechanic do it since they are sure to have the tools needed.

Re: Water pump / bearing housing queston.. Help

Update- I'm pretty sure Martin is referring to part #303345 not fitting in the bearing housing assembly that sits under the water pump, which is #380268. I unfortunately destroyed one bearing housing assembly already learning the hard way but finally figured out what works to get the 303345 seal to sit in the housing assembly. Getting the old one out w/out destroying the $90 bearing housing took me about an hour. I'm sure I did it the more difficult way though- the guys here would probably know a better one. Anyhow, since you bought a new one you don't have to deal with that. Using a long lasting lithium drill that have some power, I started out using a rasp that fits on the end of the drill & just kept grinding in a slow circular fashion. The impeller will heat up so you can grip it gently with a wrench on the opposite side. After rasping out & periodically checking the fit, I used a stone sander bit that is about the same size as the rasp to smooth everything out. The oil seal is pretty tough & I have an extra in case I messed up when gently tapping it with a hammer in place to get it to seat properly. Hope this helps save somebody from trying out everything the wrong way that the Evinrude 1965 Sportwin parts diagram says is supposed to fit. My guess is that they can fit in with those $225 a piece tools that they have.

Re: Water pump / bearing housing queston.. Help

I've learned that if you heat the bearing cover [that is under the water pump] with a propane torch you can tap out the old bearing/seal with a good screw driver and a hammer, just be careful not to mar up the walls where the bearing sits.

My water pump kit came with two new bearing/seals, I was able to tap in the smaller one in with a mallet. I had her on the lake all evening Friday and she did great. I just replaced the points and condensers and I couldn't believe how much smoother that made her run.

I took the check screw out of the lower unit, and it actually had some air pressure built up in. So if she is holding air, she has to be holding oil in, and keeping water out. The oil looked good.

Thank you guys for the help.

Martin