Just came back from trailering my 14' boat w/ 1966 18hp Evinrude Fastwin to N. WI and back over the weekend. First long trip w/ this rig - when I got back yesterday I noticed oil dripping from the prop - looking closer I saw some was coming from the exhaust hole on the back of the lower unit, some smaller amt. from two holes on either side of the l.u. kinda right by the prop, and some small amt. from where the lower unit housing bolts to the upper part - (I suppose there is a gasket there?). Obviously I was and continue to be concerned!! This was after trailering the boat about 200 mi. - mostly interstate hwy. in semi-hot weather for MN - (mid 80's). I had also left the gas line hooked up to both unvented tank and engine - when I saw the oil leaking I wondered if the built up pressure in there had anything to do w/ it - I cracked the cap and there was a huge "whoosh" as you can imagine. I wiped the l.u. down - checked that the bolt tightness all over the l.u. (all were fine) & checked the oil level - seemed obviously full as it started to flow out even before having backed that screw out all the way. So - I wiped it off again, parked it, and waited to see if the leaking continued. After about 1 hr., there seemed to be just a tiny bit come out of the 2 small holes to the sides of the prop - so I wiped it off - trailer it to a sm. local lake about 8-10 mi. away - no leaks apparent there so I dropped it in the water - took it for a spin and it ran like a champ - just like it has since I bought it about 3 weeks ago. I use it very nearly every day in fact. The oil was not milky at all like I would figure it would be if contaminated by water leaking into the unit and mixing w/ the oil in the l.u. So - being pretty new to the outboard world - I wonder if someone can clue me in to what's happening and how paranoid I should be about this. Was it just the hi outside temp causing the oil to expand and ooze out or what!?!? - Thanks in advance!
