[tkwalker]

Originally Posted by robhal11

I thought everyone should ask you, since you work on motors. I used to fish Priest and Dale Hollow off and on during the winter with a buddy of mine. The only thing I saw was, I guess it was a prop seal push out. We fished Dale Hollow in FEB and drove back to Lebanon in about 10 degree weather, I guess he did not let the water drain enough before he put it on the motor toter. Other than that I have never had any freezing problems. Heading out to the fishing show today. Come over to the Southern Woods and Waters booth.

There again I don't know how you saw a seal without removing the prop? Did you see any lower unit oil running out! It is a 80/90 weight gold in color unless it is Merc High performance it it will be dark blue and some omc oils are blue. "THE ONLY WAY A LOWER UNIT CAN FREEZE IS THAT YOU HAVE BAD SEALS AND IT GETS WATER IN IT" The lower unit is a air tight housing and has no room for expansion of freezing water. Like I stated before the exhaust through props is an open port to the exhaust tower... it is open to expansion ...

Here are the seals for most motors with some exception do to vintage:
1. Drive shaft seal .. Seldom gives problems.
2. Shift linkage seal .. In older motors this is frequent.
3. prop shaft seal ... These can be damaged with fishing line ...
4. Vent and drain screw seals .. Very seldom if in place ...

How to check for water ... After use of motor, it takes about 3 days for the water and oil to seperate. This has to be done in an above freezing temp. The water will settle to the bottom of the housing where the drain plug is. Leave the vent plug in. This will let the lower unit fluid slowly leave the housing ... If you have water in the lower unit that will be the first thing you will see. Now it is not unusual to see maybe a tablespoon of water do to condensation but no more ... If the oil is milky looking (merc oil) it may have water in it. If you see the water and then it turns to oil you do not have to completely dump the gearcase, you can refill and still use the good oil in the case. (Note my last guide boat had a 225 HP 3 liter Blue water merc on it) I rebuilt the lower unit twice and the factory rebuilt it twice, we never could stop it from leaking, so I would just dump the water after about two trips and add oil. Merc has a High performance oil that actually mixes with water).

To service the lower unit ... Dump the old oil ... I use a lower unit adapter pump that screws in to the quart oil bottle and screws in to the DRAIN hole (Walmart). Pump the oil from the bottom up until it comes out the vent hole at the top... What this does is removes any trapped air. Install the vent plug first , (check to make sure your plug seal is good and sometimes they are stuck in the hole and are not on the plug itself ... Which is okay . Then install your drain plug last ...

Hope this helps ... This is mainly an overview and depending on make and model there is variations but this mainly holds true for most outboards ...

Have a good day ... <'TK><