Ran motor (in driveway) without oil in lower unit?

[islandboy47]

Hi all, I'm very new to boating and just got a 2004 Bayliner 195 bowrider with the 3.0 Mercruiser 135hp that's carbureted and was well taken care of. After using it a few times I've decided to change out the impeller because it seems like it hasn't been done in a while and I saw the engine temp get hot once for a bit while I was driving it last time. I drained the oil out of the lower unit and then proceeded to take all the necessary bolts out to remove the lower unit, but the last one is STUCK. It's the one most forward that's kind of tucked under the out-drive and close to the transom. The bolt is still stuck on there and has been for about a week now but the other day some buddies came over that know boats and wanted to take a look and I started the motor for them and let it run for a couple of min at around 2000 rpm so they could help me verify that the motor is in good shape. I had totally forgotten that I drained the oil from the lower unit. The good thing is (I think) that I of course never put the boat into drive. I know very little about how lower units work - is the oil in there just to lubricate the moving parts that are used when the boat is in drive? Did I likely damage something by running it without oil? There might be a small amount of oil left because I haven't tilted the trim all the way down yet to completely drain it, but it's definitely at least very low. I'm feeling like an idiot and wondering what to do next.

 

[alldodge]

Its rolling the dice but you might be ok due to no load and just 2 minutes. The issue is the lube was drained and sat for some days so almost all lube had drained down.

Remove the top cap on the drive and see if you see the gears or bearings turning blue or if there is any metal shavings

If ok, fix, fill with lube and give it a go

 

[flashback]

I hope you had muffs on it.

 

[racerone]

Correct there was no load.----I think you will be OK.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I would recommend always take the entire drive off and split them on your bench. Easy to make a holder that the drive slips into with a couple boards or a slot in a piece of plywood - the drive sitting on the cavitation plates. Hard part is putting the drive back on when lifting it and getting everything in place without damaging seals. Lots easier dropping the upper onto the lower while on the bench.

Removing the entire drive is an annual maintenance item anyway. And a new to you boat requires you to go through pretty much every bit of regular maintenance that previous owner was tired of doing years back. Otherwise be prepared to spend the $$ fixing what should have been lubed, greased, adjusted or replaced.

 

[achris]

If the original oil was the Merc stuff (High Performance Gear Lube), you'll be fine. If it was some wallymart special, I'd at least pull the top cover and inspect.

Chris........

 

[kenny nunez]

It appears you are having trouble with the front stud that is bound up through the lower part of the drive shaft housing.
Raise the drive all the way.
Get 2 pieces of 1” wide X 1/4” flat steel and grind them to a round end to fit in the pocket. Get a propane torch. Back the 2, 5/8”O.D. hex nuts in the side pockets below the studs, place the metal over the nuts on both sides, then tighten them against the steel to put down pressure on the front stud. The housings may start to separate, if not. Heat the area around the stud while turning the nuts a little at a time against the steel to loosen the corrosion around the stud. Penetrating oil will probably also help. Once the gap starts to open then you should be able to help it with some large screwdrivers prying down. This always worked for me.
Watch the video that Achris made on the reassembly.
2 Xs with Scott, Racer one & Chris, you did not run it long enough.

 

[islandboy47]

Welp, I finally had some time again to tackle this frustrating project and my first mission was to get that front bolt off. I tried so many things, filed the bolt down, buying different tools for rounded bolt head (broke some of those tools in the process) tried drilling through the bolt head so I could insert a metal rod into it and try to turn it that way - all that accomplished was accidentally jamming that metal rod clear through the bolt and into the speedometer cable housing thing right behind the bolt, and then the metal rod broke as soon as I tried to turn it. So today I just cut the bolt head off. Now I think that might have been yet another mistake because it appear that cutting the head off won't allow me to separate the lower unit still. Can anyone confirm if this is right? Are the bolt threads themselves holding onto the lower unit or is it the bolt head? At this point I'm thinking maybe I'll just spend the money on an entirely new outdrive and stop messing with old, corroded metal for a while.

 

[Scott06]

Welp, I finally had some time again to tackle this frustrating project and my first mission was to get that front bolt off. I tried so many things, filed the bolt down, buying different tools for rounded bolt head (broke some of those tools in the process) tried drilling through the bolt head so I could insert a metal rod into it and try to turn it that way - all that accomplished was accidentally jamming that metal rod clear through the bolt and into the speedometer cable housing thing right behind the bolt, and then the metal rod broke as soon as I tried to turn it. So today I just cut the bolt head off. Now I think that might have been yet another mistake because it appear that cutting the head off won't allow me to separate the lower unit still. Can anyone confirm if this is right? Are the bolt threads themselves holding onto the lower unit or is it the bolt head? At this point I'm thinking maybe I'll just spend the money on an entirely new outdrive and stop messing with old, corroded metal for a while.

post a picture of which bolt you are talking about , would think if the head is off you should be able to get it apart. Worst case take it to machine shop to drill and retap or helicoil

 

[Rick Stephens]

Cutting the head off should do it.

Being a welder, my first thought when having a broken bolt or having cut a bolt off is to weld a nut to the stub then hit it with an impact. The weld process expands the frozen bolt crushing and usually freeing up the corrosion that is making it stick.

Also of note, I always use Vibra-Tite on all dissimilar bolts going into aluminum. Vibra-tite is a super high viscosity thread locker type product and prevents corrosion very well in my experience.

Rick

 

[islandboy47]

post a picture of which bolt you are talking about , would think if the head is off you should be able to get it apart. Worst case take it to machine shop to drill and retap or helicoil

Good idea.
It's the bolt that's kind of tucked in between some metal on the most bow-side of the lower unit. The first three photos are of the bolt head and the last two are after I cut the head off. The lower unit hasn't come off yet after removing the bolt head, but it might just be kind of stuck. I'll try to work it off tonight to see if cutting that head off will work.

 

[islandboy47]

Cutting the head off should do it.

Being a welder, my first thought when having a broken bolt or having cut a bolt off is to weld a nut to the stub then hit it with an impact. The weld process expands the frozen bolt crushing and usually freeing up the corrosion that is making it stick.

Also of note, I always use Vibra-Tite on all dissimilar bolts going into aluminum. Vibra-tite is a super high viscosity thread locker type product and prevents corrosion very well in my experience.

Rick

Well this is good news! Thanks for the info!

 

[Scott06]

Being a welder, my first thought when having a broken bolt or having cut a bolt off is to weld a nut to the stub then hit it with an impact. The weld process expands the frozen bolt crushing and usually freeing up the corrosion that is making it stick.

this above . Weld a nut to it a amazing how it will come off

 

[Scott06]

Good idea.
It's the bolt that's kind of tucked in between some metal on the most bow-side of the lower unit. The first three photos are of the bolt head and the last two are after I cut the head off. The lower unit hasn't come off yet after removing the bolt head, but it might just be kind of stuck. I'll try to work it off tonight to see if cutting that head off will work.

If that is cut off , and you take the four on the sides off plus the one under the rear zinc should be no issue separating

 

[Bondo]

If that is cut off , and you take the four on the sides off plus the one under the rear zinc should be no issue separating

Ayuh,...... I'm wonderin' whether the op missed that one,.....

'n the bolt head that was cut off, is Supposed to be a stud, 'n ny-lock nut,.....

 

[Scott06]

Ayuh,...... I'm wonderin' whether the op missed that one,.....

'n the bolt head that was cut off, is Supposed to be a stud, 'n ny-lock nut,.....

My gen two has a bolt in front like the op shows in pics

 

[islandboy47]

Yup it's a bolt, not a stud. I didn't miss any of the other bolts including the one under the zinc. It's not separating. Going to get a machine shop help me remove it I guess. Thanks for all the help so far though guys!

 

[Drcoffee]

Yikes! That rusty bolt should never have been used. Its probably FUSED to both halves of the outdrive. Might try something like Shielding the drive and hit the bolt with a small propane torch. you need to break the bond before it will want to move.

 

[islandboy47]

It was bad, but we finally got the bolt out! A friend of mine welding a not onto the top, blasted it with a torch and was able to get it to move. While he was working on it though he said that these little brackets fell out of the out drive and he doesn't know what they are. Can anybody identify these and where they should go?

 

[Scott06]

It was bad, but we finally got the bolt out! A friend of mine welding a not onto the top, blasted it with a torch and was able to get it to move. While he was working on it though he said that these little brackets fell out of the out drive and he doesn't know what they are. Can anybody identify these and where they should go? View attachment 354036

Those are exhaust shutters that go in the top of the exhaust down pipe justbelow the exhaust elbow. Must have been over heated at one time. Replace it