Oil leaking from prop area

[MattMudrakFL]

I have a 1990's Johnson 115 v4 outboard and i ran it on muffs a few months ago and about a week later small amounts of oil were dripping from where the prop attaches to the lower unit. Any ideas whats wrong?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Oil leaking from prop area

Depends on the color of the oil. If it's black, thick and nasty looking, that is unburned exhaust residue. Normal on a carb two stroke. If the oil is somewhat clear looking, then it may have leaked out of the lower unit-that needs to be looked into.

 

[MattMudrakFL]

Re: Oil leaking from prop area

Depends on the color of the oil. If it's black, thick and nasty looking, that is unburned exhaust residue. Normal on a carb two stroke. If the oil is somewhat clear looking, then it may have leaked out of the lower unit-that needs to be looked into.

It is a brownish color

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Oil leaking from prop area

That may well be lower unit oil-possibly a sign of a bad seal in the lower unit. It is possible that one of the seals around the gearcase fill (or vent) plug may be bad-a really inexpensive fix. Probably best to have it checked. You can have almost any marine dealership do a pressure/vacuum check on the lower unit to see if there are any leaking seals in the lower gearcase. They will do both a pressure and vacuum check of the gearcase (takes about an hour) and that will determine if the leak is from the gearcase.