Last weekend I finally made the plunge and bought a boat!
She’s a carolina skiff J16 with a 25 hp 2 stroke. It’s exactly what I wanted, and I can’t wait to put some fish in it.
Unfortunately, there’s a catch, and I need some advice: I went to check the foot oil a few days after I purchased the boat and it dumped out nothing but rusty water. It barely even smelled like gear oil. Not good. When I bought the boat I specifically asked if the foot oil had been changed recently and if there was any sign of water, such as milky oil. He said nope, no water at all… He either knew very little about boat maintenance or was completely FOS. I should have checked it myself rather than trusting his word.
Lesson learned. Anyway, I replaced the rotten gaskets on the drain screws and filled the foot with fresh gear oil. When I ran the boat, oil appeared to be coming out of the top of the foot and out of the two drain holes on either side of the main bolts on the foot. (Hopefully the pictures load)
I am guessing the foot needs to be resealed- How hard is it to reseal the foot of a smaller engine like this? Can anyone recommend a good boat doctor?
I never had any problems with that motor. I changed the lower gear oil in December and it was fine. I even offered to change the lower gear oil right in front of you during the sale and you said no. I also offered a test run and you declined. Ive never noticed any oil coming out of it and it was ran 2 weeks before I sold it to you.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Alan - I felt pretty ripped off when I put in fresh oil and it looked like the Exxon Valdez parked in my driveway. I apologize if this was offensive, it is good to know you were genuinely unaware of the problem.
I’m not offended, but I wouldn’t have sold it knowing it had an issue. I wasn’t in a rush to get rid of it. I hope it all works out and its an easy fix.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
if you have moderate do it yourself skills, its not that hard and there aren’t any real specialty tools required, as long as you can get the bearing carrier out.
My thoughts also, I’ve never seen that much gear oil come out like that from any engine, unless the gear case is cracked. Hard to believe it’s a seal. Strange.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Hopefully the seals have just gone bad… The way the oil came out did seem unusual. Usually bad seals just result in really milky gear oil. A lot of oil was coming from the circled areas:
Once I get a chance I’ll remove the bolts on the foot and get a closer look. Thanks for the replies.
16Bayfisher - I removed both screws and filled from the bottom, replaced the top screw, then the bottom screw. After that I removed the top screw again to add a little extra oil. I wouldn’t normally do the second step but I wanted to make sure it was topped off. Could that be why so much was coming out? I didn’t add much extra pressure to it, I kept the fitting from the oil pump loose.
I literally just did this on a T25. Which is the high thrust 25hp 4 stroke. Basically a 25 powerhead with a 40hp lower unit(different ratio)
It wasn’t hard at all. I’ve never had a gear case apart. All I could find online was that a lower unit is too difficult for humans.
So I found the parts schematic on boats.net and bought a factory manual on eBay for $15 shipped.
I discovered you need a special tool. I found the tool online for $100 or so. Improvised with $5 worth of parts from the hardware store.
The LU is small, so getting a puller in there wasn’t going to happen without the special tool. I used cable and a harmonic balancer puller. If you don’t have one, you can rent them for free at autozone. disclaimer the cable probably isn’t the safest idea. If one of the clamps gave way, I would likely have bleed out and died. Do at your own risk.
Keeping the puller straight was the only thing that was difficult. This is where the proper tool would have helped. I went slow and it popped right out.
To remove the seals, you could probably get away with a screwdriver, but I used a bearing puller.
I then cleaned the carrier and ordered the needed seals. I could have gone online, but I like to keep the local guys in business. I chose Bo at Barrier island. He was very helpful. He actually sent me to Hankel because they stocked what I needed. The lady at Hankel only got me what I needed instead of buying the lower unit seal kit at over $100. I like when a parts department works with you. I’ve been in dealers that wouldn’t know what I needed if I brought them the part numbers. True story. Enough there.
After cleaning I replaced the seals. I just hammered them in with a socket that was the same diameter. Do this on a block of wood or remove the bearing/gear.
I don’t see how the prop shaft seal would allow oil to escape out of the top of the housing. Any oil that made out past teh prop shaft seal would spill on the rear of the housing. The only way oil can get to the top of the housing is if the housing is fractured or the seal immediately under water pump has completely failed.
There should be no need to pull the bearing carrier around the prop shaft.
that is correct, the prop shaft seal would not cause it to leak in that location.
I believe the intent was to replace all of the lowerunit seals while he had it apart.
also the shift shaft seal will cause the oil to leak in the same location.
