Honda 75 rattle

[naptonboy]

Question...

While flushing the idling engine with fresh water sitting on its trailer the lower engine (gearbox?) rattles. Better if I put it into gear, even better if I carefully put a little drag on the propeller (avoiding the blades) with a piece of wood.

With the engine shut down and in gear there is a little rotational play in the propeller. It can be rotated clockwise/anticlockwise a few degrees. It is solid on its splines so I can only assume this play is somewhere in the gear train.

Is this normal?

 

[hondam]

What your explaining with the degrees of rotation is normal. It has whats called a clutch dog which is what engages the gears and it has teeth that fit into a slot. The slots are much larger the teeth which is what gives your that play.

I would give it a lower unit grease change and look for any evidence of problems in the grease and pull the prop off making sure everything is tight and properly installed and go from there.