Rut Row . . . 1/4 cup water in lower unit?

[Expidia]

Did a routine maintenance today. Changed the 3 plugs, oil filter and oil. Pulled the screw plug on the lower unit to change the gear oil and 1/4 cup of water came out before the old gear oil started flowing out.

Is this going to be serious? I was planing on taking it to Lake Champlain over the 4th. I real don't want to lose it for a month at the Mercury shop I go to as they must be swamped.

Ideally, I'd like to bring it to him at the end of the season to check it. I seem to remember already going through this a year or two ago. I'll have to check my records. Seems like whatever is causing it i'm sure is another $500 repair..

Any thoughts?

 

[Chris1956]

Well, the easiest seal to change is in the waterpump base. Simply drop the gearcase, clean and lube the driveshaft, and remove the waterpump cover, impeller, wearplate and base. Lube the seal in the new pumpbase and install it. Also install a new impeller, wearplate and gaskets. Make sure there are gaskets on the fill and vent plugs,

 

[Expidia]

Well, the easiest seal to change is in the waterpump base. Simply drop the gearcase, clean and lube the driveshaft, and remove the waterpump cover, impeller, wearplate and base. Lube the seal in the new pumpbase and install it. Also install a new impeller, wearplate and gaskets. Make sure there are gaskets on the fill and vent plugs,

Thx Chris, my concern is I think I had the shop Merc change the impeller in early May. Seems a coincidence that water is getting in. Problem is I'm sure shop will always claim it was leaking from a prop seal or someplace else.

I had the prop seals changed 2 years ago.

Think water can get in from an improper impeller change. Maybe a cover gasket not sealing correctly?

 

[racerone]

Impeller change will not affect seals.----If they changed out the housing below the pump then that is different story.

 

[Expidia]

Impeller change will not affect seals.----If they changed out the housing below the pump then that is different story.

They just changed the impeller. That water was probably in there from last season after I had them change the seals. Water must have still been coming in. That ticks me off because I always drain the gear oil at the end of the season, so if any water is in there I would drain and refill it and let them check it in the spring for a leak. Last season was the first time I did not do this . . . figures :embarassed: chances are that water was in there over the winter!

 

[Expidia]

I need the boat for the upcoming 4th July weekend so after using it on Lake George for a few hours on Sat I drained the gear oil again and this time only about a tablespoon of water came out.

I'll drop the boat at the Merc shop early next week when I get back. They will pressure test it. My guess is after they installed the prop seals two seasons ago a seal never held and they probably don't re-pressure test it after they put the new seals in or one went bad.

Good reason to drain your gear oil at the end of "each" season to make sure the seals are not letting any water in which would be in there over the winter, freeze and possibly crack the lower unit.

 

[Expidia]

Picked up the boat today from the shop. $369 with tax. I don't do these types of repairs myself anymore. I did get a chance to use the boat on sat since he did not get to work on it last week. He's on the hudson river and the launch was only 50 yards from my parked boat. Re-parked it there again sat night and they called me today that it was done.

The pressure test did show very slow leakage. It did have a few ounces of water in it again after the lower unit oil change I did 2 weeks ago.
He showed me the seals and bushings he replaced. he did the impeller again since he was in there already. The last one was two seasons old already and would have been due by next season.

Parts list says replaced: Bushing $42.37, Base assembly $62.84, Impeller $46.72, 2 gaskets $2,50 and $4.50 and lower unit oil $7.82 plus 7 1/4 hour units of labor for $175. And he pressure tested it again.

I know I could have saved the labor and paid 1/2 the price for the parts, but I'd rather have a Merc shop do it as I rent and don't have my basement shop to do repairs anymore.

Nothing worse than snapping the head off a bolt when I do this stuff myself. At least they carry the parts in stock and are very honest for a boat repair shop.
Paying $175 for labor is a bargain to me as I'd have to pay like $125 just to get an impeller done! So my bottom line is it really only cost me $244 for replacing the seals and parts to stop the water seepage over what the impeller job would have been next season.

I'm posting this for others to guesstimate how much it will cost you for "a local shop" to do the work when you find water in the lower unit. The first step is to have it pressure tested to isolate the leak. The OB is only a 2007. One would think seals would last a little longer but I did hit a submerged log two seasons ago and shook things up!

Thanks to Chris1956 for his instructions if I were to have attempted to do the work myself!