Mercury 115 - Drive Shaft Housing Removal (possible or not?)

[dax0260]

I accidentally pushed the lower rubber grommet that seals the water tube at its access hole located at the very bottom of the drive shaft housing UP INTO the drive shaft housing. Proceeded to try and fish it back down into place with a fish hook and lost the fish hook into the drive shaft housing as well. I need to get in there so I can remove the fish hook and put the grommet back in place around the water tube.

Stupid mistake that may have just cost me a lot of money?

I'm wondering if it is possible to drop the drive shaft housing off of the upper unit without having to disassemble the engine from the top down. That's my primary question right there and any help would be greatly appreciated.

There are the 8 obvious bolts holding the drive shaft housing onto the upper unit, but then there are two smaller bolts that seem like they can't be removed without removing the steering swivel bracket.

If I can drop the housing without having to get too crazy, I can do this myself, but if this will require large scale dis-assembly, I need to take it to a professional.

Also, just so I know, would it be a problem if I just pushed the old grommet up the water tube and out of the way, replaced it with a new one and just left the little fish hook where it is in the drive shaft housing? Could that fish hook cause a problem for me if it's just sitting in there?

Thank you guys in advance for any advice you may be able to offer!!

-Dax

 

[emckelvy]

Re: Mercury 115 - Drive Shaft Housing Removal (possible or not?)

You're gonna need to pull the powerhead and remove the exhaust adapter plate to repair this problem correctly. Any other attempts to Band-Aid fix will only result in a compromised cooling system and VERY $$$$ engine problems.

Note that if your 115 is '72 or newer, the exhaust tuner plate has internal bolts which can only be accessed with the powerhead removed. Even if it's the older design which has no internal bolts, the powerhead attaching bolts go all the way thru the exhaust plate into the center section, so you'll have to pull the powerhead in any case.

BTW, the (2) nuts at the front are thinner and can be removed in place. If there's not enough clearance for you to get them free, once the powerhead is lifted just a bit the nuts are easily removed.

HTH.........ed

 

[dax0260]

Re: Mercury 115 - Drive Shaft Housing Removal (possible or not?)

Ed - Thank you very much for letting me know. I thought this would be the case so now I can stop searching for an easier fix.

Just so I know what to expect from a marine mechanic, roughly how much money should I expect to pay for having my power head removed?

Again, thank you very, very much for this advice.

-Dax