Lower unit removal in water

[BoostedTimmy]

I have a Force 85 that has been sitting for a long time (10+ years) on my houseboat. I just got it running with some help from this forum but now I have a new issue. When the motor started up there was a light squeaking sound. As I let the engine idle for a while it got progressively louder. I suspected I'd need to service the lower unit and this confirms it. Unfortunately I can't just trailer my boat out of the water like most, I would have to get a haul out. That's not going to happen so I'm going to try and do this in water and have a few questions.

1 - Never done this before. When I detach the lower do I need to worry about any oil?
2 - Can I change the lower oil with it detached?
3 - How heavy is it?
4 - Is it difficult to align back up?

My boat is at my personal pier and I can pull it to my beach like shore to preform this work. I'd be working knee to thigh deep water and was planning to have the motor tilted completely out of the water. Plan is to remove to lower and take it to my garage. What do you guys think?

 

[dingbat]

I've removed two lower units in the knee deep water. Full tilt up and push it as close to shore as you can.

Worst part is if you drop a tool or hardware. Drives are heavy but not unmanageable. If worst comes to worst, get someone to help you

 

[Jiggz]

I guess this can be done as mentioned. Personally, I recommend a second person to do this evolution. As for tools falling off the water or bolts for that matter, use a small net with one side tied up to the boat and the free ends tied to small sealed plastic bottles as a catch. Being soaked in the water for so long it'll probably take a little persuasion to break off the unit but it can be done. Goodluck.

 

[jerryjerry05]

The hardware like screws and shift connectors are stainless steel and if dropped????
The drive should lift enough to get the boat in real shallow water maybe even on the ramp itself?
That way you won't loose anything in the sand.

It's not hard to realign,
You can take a threaded rod and use it as a guide on the top hole in the cavitation plate.

Change the impeller.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Doable Yes, recommended, NO. 10 years with no service and you hear a metallic squeaking/grinding noise.
Why not try to remove the motor completely .What are your options if the bolts are corroded in place and now break ?
Outboard Motors
1989 FORCE
FORCE OUTBOARDS
858F9


Motor Type: Gasoline
Volts (Electric Motors): N/A
Thrust (Electric Motors): N/A
Horsepower: 85
Cylinders: 3
Start Type: Electric
Dry Weight: 255
Power Tilt and Trim: Yes

 

[BoostedTimmy]

Thanks guys. This is in a lake and I can just pick up anything that falls; the water is clear and the ground is firm. I wish there was a reasonable way to just remove the engine, but circumstances make working over the water a far better option.

 

[BoostedTimmy]

It's off. It was a calm overcast day and I was able to safely bring it to water just below my knees. Hardest part was clearing all the gunk off the bolt heads; most weren't even visible. Took about 45 minutes start to finish. Got it home and cleaned it up a little. Replaced the impeller and changed the oil, maybe the impeller was squeaking. Put on the original 4 blade as sthe 3 blade that came on it was toast. Turns and shifts great and the oil was not milky. Weather permitting I'll have it back on tomorrow.

Never seen something get so nasty in fresh water. It was parked with the outboard very close to the ground and shore so maybe that accelerated the build up?

 

[jerryjerry05]

Even the clearest lake isn't clear.
The plankton in fresh water builds up like salt or brackish water.
Can't you tilt it up to keep it out of the water?

I think there are paints for fresh water??

Back in the old days (1966) in school we used a microscope and looked at the stuff in fresh water.
Found a great reason for bottled water.

Glad you got it off.

 

[kbh121956]

Wire brush / sand that off. Any paint is better then nothing! Ebay and local marine stores carry spray cans. I coat my lower whenever I see missing paint.

 

[legalfee]

I was thinking of trying the same thing (oil and impeller change). Can you drain the oil with the motor tilted up?
Oh and I have a 95 Force 90hp.

 

[jerryjerry05]

You can drain some of the oil off but it won't get it all.
If your drive has the 2 screws for vent/fill you can pump new oil in and push the old oil out.

Just be real careful not to loose oil into the water:9

 

[BoostedTimmy]

Just a heads up legalfee if you decide to do this in water, installation was far more difficult than removal. Fortunately I had a ratchet strap handy else I probably wouldn't have gotten it. I got the lower barely started and used the ratchet to hold it there, then with the ratchet holding all the weight I could rock it back and forth to get things lined up. I saw 3 things to line up - driveshaft, water pickup, and shift shaft. Each time I got one lined up I tightened the ratchet to hold it in place and worked on the next thing...worked on the first attempt

 

[legalfee]

I'm thinking I'd better try this on dry land and with some help.