AGAIN…Grrrr…$500

took my ’95 Nitro to have it winterize this morning and got a called back from the service guy late in the after noon that i need to replace the lower unit sealer(sealer broke and water is in the unit). Winterize,new parts and labor is $500 OUCH…I have this same thing done last winterize too. My second years owning the boat and pay $1000 in service already, i don’t even take it out that much.
I wonder how often does this happen to your boat? (for those people that own the boat for a long time).
is there a way or trick that you do to prevent this from happening? Just can’t afford to pay this every year or even every 2-3 years for service.

one thing that can wreck the seal is getting fishing line wrapped around the prop.

Sorry to hear about the bad luck. But they told you what B.O.A.T. stands for I hope. If they didn’t- Break Out Another Thousand.

Maybe they put in a bad seal last year. Might be worth asking if there is a higher grade seal to put in it. If you don’t have the money to throw at it I would suggest learning how to do it yourself. I’m sure you could find instructions online.

gees twice in a row.. next time I would open the bottom screw and check the fluid my self.. or I would find some one else to winterize my unit..

once yes.. twice.. hmmmmm….

I have had my 70 HP Yamaha since 1988 and have winterized it myself every year. All I have done is to drain the lower unit and fog the cylinders. I replace the lower unit lub in the spring. Haven’t had a bit of trouble all this time. Sorry to hear about yours.

I pull my prob several times a season to check for line in front of it. I think sometimes you might pick it up in the water.

Two years in a row is suspect. There are other ways water gets into a lower unit. Did they do a leak down test? Did they test the prop shaft to make sure it is not bent?

A leak down test will confirm if its now water tight. If it fails, the new seal did not fix the leak. (and probably not needed)

BTW, I’ll assume you also have a 15 year old motor. At this point, you should be checking the oil for water several times a year. Even if you find water, 2-3 oil changes over the course of a season is cheaper than an annual $500 bill. I know of many old leaky lower units that have gone many years as long as you keep up on the oil changes.

I have never had a prop seal fail on any motor I have ever owned.

-J,

Two years in a row I would be skeptical….. did they do the seal last time? To bad you did not check the lower unit a month or so after they fixed it. They may have screwed up installing the new seals. It would be interesting how much moisture was in the lower unit? Just a slight discoloration or water poured out of it. I would also be tempted to take it to another shop and have them pressure test the lower unit…second opinion.

I have had moisture in my lower unit but found fishing line wrapped around the shaft cleaned out the line refilled the lower unit. Kept an eye on the oil and it has been good for 3 years now.

Quote:

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I have never had a prop seal fail on any motor I have ever owned.

-J,

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Same here. And I can’t think of anyone I know that has had the issue either. Point being it isn’t at all common. Time for a leak down test. Conducted by a new mechanic/dealership.

Can’t agree more with the above!

I change lower end lube once in the middle of the season and then again at the end. Not really so much for replacing the grease, but more for checking for water.

It’s a good idea to keep grease in your lower in over winter to keep grease on the gears. Moisture and air is the gears enemy….and you won’t forget to filler up before you go out the first time in spring.

2001 Merc 90 hp here. Same seals…knock on wood!

????????????I have a 2001 xr6 150hp merc ,I have yet too replace a LU seal I drop the gear lube at the end of every season and refill w new grease, I pull the prop every mo. during the summer and ck for line also 1 or 2 tmes a summer I loosen the botttom plug to check for water.You should look at the prop shaft stand behid the motor and spin the prop if shaft is bent you will tyipcally see the shaft wobble, also the pressure test is a must thing to check their work after they are done fixing the lower unit.
I run the boat from 1rst of april to the end of november.
Stan

Yep what JJ says – if the shop didn’t confirm where it’s leaking they more then likely changed the wrong seal. Just as many top seals leak as bottom and most bottom seals get destroyed when the unattended line meets Mr. Prop. (like was already mentioned)

Might want to have a casual discussion with the shop manager. Hope everything gets straightened out to your liking.

Bought a 90 HP 4 stroke Yamaha in 2003. Have replaced lower unit seal twice, both times after first run of the season. It was like there was damage to seal by ice formed in lower unit. This is after motor is raised and lowered numerous times and starter turned over numerous times to get rid of excess water. Even tried to blow out with compressed air. Always change oil prior to storing for winter. This past spring, seal failed and the shop I took it to said there was a bulletin from Yamaha to increase weep hole size on this moter to prevent this issue. No water in lower unit when I dropped oil this fall. The one thing that was a little different this fall was that I took out bottom screw and opened top enough to get a good drain on the oil. As I was pumping – hand pump -new oil back in I maybe got a little strong as a little oil was pushed out the back side of the seal and came out the water intake. My concern now is, did I mess up the seal? After change was all done and cleaned up, no more oil came out. Somebody commented on pressure testing – what’s that all about? Probably going to have to make a lap around the lake this spring and then look for an oil slick by the dock.

JJ? When are you going to make a “How to” video for changing lower end grease?

Buckeye, did you have the top screw open when you were pumping in the grease from the lowest hole?

I know it hasn’t been said, so I agree too.

Seriously it’s super easy and and can be done in as little a 20 minutes to drop and replace the oil in the LU.

Briank – Top screw was open enough that it left enough air in to drain system. Had good flow as it drained so I thought no need to completely take top screw all the way out. A little pressure must have built up in gear case as a little oil pushed past seal. Soon as I saw it, I quit pumping oil for a second and all was better. Changed a lot of LU’s over years, first time ever left the plug hang in there by a “thread” . No oil on driveway after oil change completed. Boat sat there for a week before I stored. Not sure what I’ll find after a lap around the lake. Thanks, R

I also think I have a bad seal. I usually change my lower unit oil every spring, but when I changed it this spring it was really milky white. I assumed it was a bad seal, so I changed the washers on my screws because one looked bad, but changed it again and still milky. I use my boat all winter and dont want to drain the lower unit oil everytime, so I figure I better take it to the shop. I have a 96 yamaha 60hp, any idea what what I should expect to pay for a new prop seal installed?

I paid about $225 each time – two different shops – about 3 years apart.

Gotcha Bucky, that’s the only reason I could think of that it wouldn’t have come out of the top hole…before coming out a seal. But then again, I’ve only had experience on my motor.

Someone told me this once, so I had to go check. Each time the grease is changed the o-ring gaskets should be changed too. I must of bought 20 of them for $2. Don’t even look at them except to make sure they didn’t stick someplace they shouldn’t have.

As a bass fisherman – fishing alot of Metro Lakes, i always check my prop for fishing line. Braid will cut thru seals and cause you lower unit issues. Also, just change the lower unit oil a couple of times during the summer. It takes about 30 minutes, most of that time is draining the existing oil. Your lower unit can run with a mix of water and oil for a while. Seals being replaced is much cheaper than a lower unit.

I repeat- the braid in the shallows is what is giving you a problem.

Your seals are shot within 2 or 3 days of running braid along the prop shaft.

Check, check, check…..Be persistent. Make it part of your on the trailer process.

Dog.

One other thing to check is the shift seal – if it is a Merc. I had an issue with mine – I think it is a latent defect with the big block Mercury Motors. I had a burr that would slowly eat away at the shift seal and, for the life of me, I could not figure out how I was getting water.

Took it all apart and pressure testing it. I couldn’t believe it.

Now I just keep an eye on the lower unit lube. Water will sink to the bottom of the case and if you turn the screw – water will be the first to come out the bottom.

Just keep an eye on it and check the upper seals

Good luck.

Dog.

I had a prop seal go bad for the first time in my life this fall. I was fishing with a guy that got his line caught in the prop, and I forgot to pull it off to clean it out and by the next time out it took out the seal. I had milky gear lube on the floor. Pulled the prop to find an amazing amount of braid on the shaft. The seals were $25 and it took about an hour to replace them. I bet I could do it in a half hour now that I know what I’m doing.

Whoa, that reminds me of the time a boat came flying by and the guy I was with (who didn’t turn the drag down or freespool) fed 150# line and a whole pole to the passing boat.

And just for the record, I put gear oil in my LU. It’s oil. I think there were some that took actual grease way back like before BK was born.

I don’t think I would pay $500 two years in a row. Does that include the shrink wrap or something?

I was totally a big spender this year. I bought a billboard tarp and some straps. It was like $60. Boat cover not good for 12″.

This is way to odd to happen two years in a row. I would question the mechanic who fixed it most recently and ask what was causing the issue. Ask him if he did a leak down test, checked the shaft for play and runout. If a bearing or gearset is going bad it will take the seal out as well. Starting with questioning the mechanic would be the first step.

thanks guy. I’ll called in and cancel the repair and have another shop have a look.

It a 60hp Mercury 2 stroke out board engine. I don’t know if the guy did a pressure test or not or any other thing wrong, he only show me the milky oil in the oil pan under the engine with the prop removed. He said the it could be the fishing line (like you guy mention) but i didn’t see any. He also mention that they get 20% of boat that come in need this kind of repair done. what questions should i be asking the guy when i go pick up the boat?

I just don’t have confident in doing any thing myself, don’t know much about Marine engine. look like i have to start learning about it now.

Any link, reference or video you know that a guy should get start on.

thanks again guy.

Sometimes the lower unit oil will look milky when it is cold and has a very little amount of water in it from condensation. The condensation is built up from the motor warming up and cooling down quick in the cold water. I would say if it is just milky with no water coming out in less than a couple teaspoonfuls, I would just change the gear lube and keep an eye on it. It is easy to check, just unscrew the bottom screw and let a small amout drain, if their is water in it the water will be first to drain, if no water comes out, you are in good shape. Just install the bottom screw and top off the gear lube to the top of the upper screw with motor trimmed down all the way. If you dont want to do this, then I would take it to a mechanic and have them do a leak down test before any fixing goes on.