lower unit troubles....

if this post shows up twice, delete one....<br /><br />1972 50hp hydro elctric shift lower unit needs clutch dog and possibly gears...my lower unit oil is like glitter, my question is this...<br /><br /><br />can i use the gears and or clutchdog from a different year and/ or horsepower lower unit.. i see tons of them on ebay but some are either 40hp, or if they are 50hp, they are 1973 and are manual shift?

Re: lower unit troubles....

Have you taken the LU apart? Might not be so bad. I was thinking the same thing with mine, but all it was , was a 10 dollar thrust washer broke and got ground up. Didn't really hurt the gears or bearings very much. Cleaned out LU and works well now.

Re: lower unit troubles....

can i use the gears and or clutchdog from a different year and/ or horsepower lower unit.. i see tons of them on ebay but some are either 40hp, or if they are 50hp, they are 1973 and are manual shift?

Re: lower unit troubles....

Are you sure that you have a hydro-electric? I don't believe you'll find any clutch dogs inside if so. Electric shift or hydro-assist maybe?

Re: lower unit troubles....

100 percent sure.. well than if i dont have shift dogs.....even though the manual shows it , what do i have

Re: lower unit troubles....

Mike, I don't know what you have, but I'm curious. You may be right, though I have heard a lot of lower units called hydro-electric that were actually electric shift or even hydraulic assist shift (not true hydro-electric). IF my feeble memory serves me correctly the true hydro electric uses its hydraulic pump and a couple clutch packs similar in principle to an automotive automatic transmission instead of dogs to engage forward or reverse. This is why the hydro is the quickest shifting LU available, and also the most complex and expensive. It does make a huge difference in parts availability and expense, as well as difficulty in working on the unit. I imagine you'll find that there will be virtually no interchangeability with a hydro and the other units. I'm no expert in this, just what I've encountered trying to repair my hydro-electric unit. Your model number should reveal the definitive answer here.<br /><br />In any case I hope you are able to get it going with a minimum of hassle and expense! If you are so inclined tear it down and see what you need for sure. Is it having a hard time shifting? You are wise to want to fix it before the problem gets a lot bigger.