Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

well i procrastinated last fall and never changed my gear oil, just pulled the plug and its all milky no visible cracks i had it running the other day and see no leaks. what all am i going to need to fix this? do they sell a kit?

1st You're going to haft to pull the prop off and inspect shaft and shaft seal area for anything foreign interfering with seal integrity.

2nd. In reality when the plugs in the lower unit are removed they are supposed to be replaced (I'm also guilty of reuse myself). But their is a chance the sealing o-ring has failed and allowed water to enter.

What would I do? Pull prop and inspect area thoroughly if seemingly OK I'd reinstall and replace both fill and inspection plug seals, fill with new oil and keep an eye for awhile for water contamination.

Pull prop and inspect area thoroughly if seemingly OK I'd reinstall and replace both fill and inspection plug seals, fill with new oil and keep an eye for awhile for water contamination.[/quote]
That is the easiest first step. Start with easy and least costly before you dive in a big project. Thanks for bringing that up i forgot to check mine. PLease let us know how it turns out.

thanks for the replies, i will check that out, i did have that prop and 3 others on and off after scaring one last summer. Also i replaced the impeller in the early season last year, is it possible i didnt get something inplace?

ok i took the prop off, i didnt see anything unusual. i found a seal kit for pretty cheap, i would rather be down now then in the summer, is it that difficult to put new seals in?

Id reseal it now before u have catastrophic failure....water does a horrible job as lubrication and really fubars gear faces and bearings. Its alot cheaper to reseal now than it is to rebuild or replace later.
The correct way to find exactly what seal is leaking is to pressure test and vacuum test the unit. 99% of the time the psi test and a bottle of soapy water will expose the leaking seal. It could also be a shift shaft seal or driveshaft seal under the water pump or even the bearing carrier o ring leaking.

well today i got new orings for the fill, drain and shift linkage screw. tested and still got a little water after 15 min of run time, so i put a seal kit in the lower unit. now it only has neutral and reverse, im hopeing i need to take it back down and adjusst that shift rod abit, whats your thoughts? thanks tons!

I think you somehow moved the shift shaft. Put your shifter in neutral, using pliers carefully turn shift linkage until you find forward, then reverse, then put shift shaft in neutral position and slip it together.

yes i did completely unscrew the shift shaft, im going to drop the lower unit again tomorrow ill try that thanks

thanks LR i finally got it back together right im gonna take it to the lake tomorrow then drain the lower unit AGAIN (getting pricey) ill post outcome tomorrow. thanks to all who helped