HELP, what does this mean?!?!

[floatfisher]

I was out side just now and was going to mess around with the boat for a bit. I lowered the motor and with all of the rain we had yesterday a bunch if water spilled out of different places on the motor, no big deal. What I then noticed was some of the water had some black in it and upon further investigation it is an oil like fluid. I took a pic and I will see if I can upload it, but there is an oil coming out from around the prop!! I am going to check the lower unit oil next to see if that is low. But from my last post some one mentioned that I may have spun my prop? Is this what happened and what can I do to fix? How much am I looking at??

Thanks for any replies....

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[FishnChef]

yeah it's likely your prop shaft seal which provided you didn't damage the shaft itself should be an easy and relatively cheap fix. Tough to say without actually seeing it though. Could also be simply that if your motor exhaust through the prop hubit could be two stroke oil that never got burned. Both of my Johnsons have oil coming from the exhaust to a small degree.definitely check your lower unit oil for fill level and water contamination and go from there

[ERABBIT]

I'd take the prop off and look to see if fishing line is tangled around it , also with what was said above.

[floatfisher]

Thanks for the quick replies!! I hope it is like you stated a relatively cheap and easy fix, supposed to go to the 1000 islands in just over a week.

Not sure if I can tonight but definitely tomorrow I will dive into it.

Stay tuned, please....haha

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[Sk8man]

I think MadFisher may have "nailed it" those are the two things that come to mind and the unburned oil/gas mixture residue is a common thing with 2 strokes.

[FishnChef]

If you are unsure as to how to proceed you can download the manual for your motor online for a very cheap price you just gotta look around I think I got the manuals for each of mine for 8 bucks a piecethen just printed them out and put them in a three ring binder.good things to have even if you are mechanically inclined

[floatfisher]

I was lucky and a buddy of mine had a Clymer manual for the same motor he used to have so I got that covered.

Would make sense that it maybe unused oil as it does exhaust through this area and it was the color of oil not lube. If the mix was too rich could that be unused oil and would that explain the bogging down issue I had last week?

So I cracked open the drain plug and at first the lube looked perfect. Then it started to turn milky. Should it already be turning with only one use? Or would that lead me towards the seal? I have pics if it would help. Would it hurt to take the prop off and inspect the seal or possibly do more harm?

Thanks a ton!!

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[BigMac]

Lower unit oil should not be milky at all. There is water getting in somewhere that shouldn't be.

[steelydan]

Lower unit oil should not be milky at all. There is water getting in somewhere that shouldn't be.

x2 milky usually means water is in the lube. also check the seals around the shift linkage

[Sk8man]

Sometimes the unburned oil/gas residue when exposed the water turns that color too. You should be able to tell if it is the lower unit stuff by opening the drain plug on it briefly but I'd have some replacement lower unit lube handy to refill if it looks OK and you lose a little bit when you open it. The lube shouldn't look "milky" at all in there unless a seal is leaking or damaged.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Sk8man

[floatfisher]

A couple of things here,  I found that one of my o-rings on one of the screws (I cant remember which one it was right now) fill, vent, or drain) was falling apart.  I replaced the o-rings on all of them.  I hope that this is where the water was getting in if there was in fact water getting in to turn the lube milky.  I will top the lube off and go from there. 

 

As for a prop seal, if that had gone bad, would the oily substance be the color of the lube (blue) or oil (black)?  I am leaning towards the un-burned oil as it is almost black in color, and hopefully not the seal. 

 

Thanks for al of your help, I kind of paniced when I first noticed it and have calmed down now thinking that my mix is too rich.  I will go a little lighter on the oil next time I fill up.  I will hopefully be out on the boat again this weekend and see what happens.  I will see how she runs and hopefully I wont have the slowing down issue I had last week.  If I do I will have to look into that next.

[Captain Jim]

  If your lower unit oil is milky you should drain it completely as apposed to topping it off. I guess it's possible that the water got in past a bad o ring but I really think you have a bad prop shaft seal. You'll want to get whatever it is fixed ASAP. Sooner or later your lower unit will suffer from inadequate lubrication. That will be expensive.

 

  The other concern is cold weather coming. More than one lower unit has busted open from water freezing inside where the oil is supposed to be.

[jigstick]

Milky 90wt = bad.  Find out where the water is getting in, fix it, and refill with fress lube

[Chas0218]

Most of the time if you have milky colored lower unit fluid is because of fishing line around the prop or bad o ring on the screws.

If you can't get it fixed before your trip, go buy a gallon of 80-90 gear lube/oil and change it before you go on your trip and then again during your trip. If you are using it a lot during the trip change it often. I have ran a lower unit with milky oil because prop shaft seal being bad and just changed it often until I could get her fixed.

Sent from my thinking chair...

[ontherise]

It's fine , don't sweat it !! Just a little oil , no big deal.

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[floatfisher]

Thanks again for all of the replies!   I am going to look in to it more starting tonight.  

 

ontherise - thanks for the comment, puts me at ease.

 

Chas - South Corning huh?  Where can I get parts to fix the seal in our area?  If I cant get it fixed before the trip I will definitely take some extra oil to swap it out with.  Already replaced the o-rings.  Hopefully that is where the water came from...

 

Man I miss my old boat, sold it when the twins came.  That little 25 hp Merc. tiller, never had to do anything to it and it ran like a top for years!!!

[Chas0218]

What type of motor? You could try Jamison just bring your wallet. There is a couple places in Watkins can't remember the name tho.

I generally order all my parts off marineengine.com. they seem to have the best prices and will help you out of you have any questions.

Sent from my thinking chair...

[rolmops]

Judging by the picture,it seems that the oil is dripping on to the prop from above. That and its color make me think that there is a drainhole from the exhaust housing above it.

As for the milky lower unit oil and what you said about the O-rings that goes together very well.

The rings behind the lower unit drain screws are not supposed to be o-rings ,but hard flat  fiberglass like rings that can only be used once and then have to be replaced.

The oil being milky can be because of 2 reasons. One is water in the oil,but that usually separates out after a few days of sitting. The other milky oil thing is air.The oil is more towards brownish than milk colored. This happens when the oil level is not high enough. The air gets mixed in and the tiny air bubbles are caught in it.

[floatfisher]

When I bought the boat last year and saw the "rings" I thought that they were just weathered o-rings.  My bad for replacing the washers with o-rings!  I will look on line to see if I can get replacements and when I check the lube again I will replace them.  Maybe there was air coming in from them when I used it last week with the o-rings and making the white little bubbles in the lube.  Thanks for the heads up rolmops!!

 

Hope to get the boat out this weekend to see how its running, and keep an eye on things..

 

[CaptSpike]

My Honda uses O-rings...........

 

Spike

[Dick]

Boats.net has parts digrams for all outboards. I see what i need, get part number, then goto Jaminsons.

Steave at the parts counter is very good and will tell you what usealy goes bad, and what you need.

I live in Big Flats and after shipping, and the I want it now syndrome, the price is not bad.

Dick B.

[lakebound88]

Jamison's, they are liquidating I heard.

Watkins parts supply for boats would be offshore marine, glen harbor, frog hollow. Merc stuff, frog hollow, Volvo I would go to glen harbor, any outboard stuff, harry at offshore is a good mechanic too..

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