Wow, I thought I was the only one who takes external bolts off of various parts on outboards and PWCs when they are new to add never seize. This technique has saved me tons of headaches over the years and doesn't take lots of time to do.. 👌👍👍👍
Just dealing with basic rust and corrosion in fresh water has me counting my blessings for not dealing with the salty mess that y'all have to put up with. I would never quote a flat rate if had to deal with that. But for buying used you could add the possible issues to the seller and add up the discount and hope you get lucky. I need to join the forum it looks pretty cool. Watching that tear down made me feel a little better about being in construction.
Working in a yacht club, we had a club rib with a 60 yamaha with over 3000 hours on it. Needed a new impellor and of course the driveshaft was seized into the powerhead. After a lot of chiselling we ended up draining the oil, taking the engine off the transom and flipping it upside down. Doing this in the hope of allow penetranting fluid to run down the driveshaft and into the spline which was seized. This didn't help, so our next step was strapping the lower until to a fixing in the concrete, and using our 12T crane to lifting on the powerhead, in the process ripping a hole into the side of the engine and it was a right off. With the engine beyond repair we got the drive shaft apart with ALOT of heat and pulling. When we had it apart finally there were parts of the spline from the crankshaft welded into the spline of the driveshaft. Least to say it was a learning experience and to service the lower units regularly.
I had bad upper motor mounts in my last boat. It was a 250 mercury. I finally worked up the courage to lift the power head and change them. Once I took the power head off, I discovered the motor mount bolts were frozen in the swivel bracket. No amount of air hammer, penetrating oil or heat could free them. Luckily my local mercury dealer let me look through their bone yard and sold me used swivel bracket assembly with everything in it for $500 bucks!! Ran the boat for another year after that and then sold it for a $5000 profit!
As always, great content. I personally haven't had an issue with the lower unit; however, back 10 years ago I had to replace a poppet valve on a 2000 Mercury 150. Well, that turned into a weekend procedure as one of the bolts broke off from the head. Good thing that a piece was sticking out so that was a life saving as it let me unscrew that bolt one millimeter at a time. That life changing experience (LOL) taught me to apply grease on every screw I would take off. Cheers mate!
It seems like you might try using some plastic wedges like used in logging before you go to the steel. It would cause a lot less damage. I've also learned that large hammers are dramatically more effective than small ones on stuck parts, and often do less damage because of far fewer blows.
After doing lots of reading and watching about how to remove a stuck lower unit, I finally found the solution that worked for me. I have a 2018 Mercury 150 four stroke with 300 hours of South Florida saltwater use. My plan was to follow the maintenance plan and do the first impeller change at 300 hours. Little did I know that the 4 years of never having the lower unit off would be a problem. It was. I pounded on the fins of the lower unit with a sledge hammer (using a wood block and rubber mat to protect the surface). After many strikes and only creating a minimal gap between the lower unit and midsection, I tried a little bit of wedging with wood and plastic materials but that didn't work well for me. Finally, I read a suggestion to lower the motor to a vertical position and carefully stand on the fins of the lower unit while holding on to the cowl of the enigne for balance. Important safety note here is to make sure you have all of the major mounting nuts (or bolts depending on your make and model) in place but loosely installed so the lower unit (with you on it) doesn't go crashing to the ground but has a little room to separate from the midsection. After rocking up and down with all 230 lbs of my weight about 20 times I finally got some significant (half inch maybe) separation between the two sections. I climbed off the motor, moved it back to the tilted up position, removed all of those loosely mounted bolts and carefully pulled the lower unit off the engine the rest of the way. It seems the driveshaft was stuck where it inserts into the powerhead.
Hello brother, usually when this occurs it has been the larger model Yamaha 30 inch shaft motors with the spacer and what I do is hole saw a hole through the spacer in line with the water pump housing and proceed to cut the drive shaft off with a chamfered welding rod for cutting steel, just above the water pump housing, then using a puller I designed I then slide the puller over the remaining piece of drive shaft, weld the drive shaft to the puller and pull the drive shaft out of the crankshaft, I then clean the crankshaft splines, lubricant spray , lubricate the new drive shaft splines ( preferably with 101 ) and install a new gear case 😃 thank you for the informative videos
Just remove the whole midsection/muffler with a cut-off wheel. Then heat the shaft up near the crank and apply some penetrant. A used midsection and muffler is cheap compared to a driveshaft on most motors, and you're gonna destroy it anyway drilling that hole.
No he started working at the repair shop he is at in high school As an apprentice is way up and he’s now a full mechanic been there for at least eight years now
@@forniafishing he really enjoys it he’s got a really nice set up his boss gave him a spot and my son lives in a travel trailer rent free no electricity or nothing and basically has nothing to spend his money on but his boats he owns. He also has free rain of the shop on the weekends and he buys old boats fixes them and resales them.
That verado with the hole saw drilled in the midsection is serious commitment thats when shit gets serious! 🤣 one that stands out for me was once I had a 150 yam 4 stroke come in and the drivehshaft was stuck in the midsection, the guide bushes had swollen so tight around the driveshaft it would make a high pitch squeeling noise whilst running. Tried everything to get that gearbox off, forklift pushing down on it, porta power, heat, etc, pulled the powerhead off and used a thick drift and a massive sledge hammer to hammer the driveshaft down, forced it back up and back down heaps of times I remember we only got it separated about an inch. One of those jobs where the hours clock up quick and becomes financially unwise to continue so opted and proceeded for a repower.
15 HP Hondas have a seal around the top of the drive shaft to keep cooling (salt in our case) water away from the spline. The seal failed on one of our motors and corrosion welded the drive shaft spline to the crankshaft. While trying to pull the lower unit off, the circlip in a groove at the bottom of the drive shaft broke the end of the shaft off. The repair shop said it was not economically worth having them fix it. I was able to save the motor by sliding a metal plate with a hole down the shaft to rest against the end of the crankshaft. I ground flat sections on opposite sides of the shaft (it was going to be replaced anyways) and clamped two metal crosspieces to the shaft. Two hydraulic bottle jacks between the crosspieces and the plate forced the drive shaft spline out of the crankshaft. Other than time spent, the hardest part of the job was inserting a circlip on the bottom of a new drive shaft in the tight confines of the gear case assembly at the bottom of the lower unit. The motor ran fine after that for the remaining couple of years that we had it. In retrospect, the lesson I learned (and the shop should have known) is that if you suspect the drive shaft spline is stuck into the crankshaft and if the geometry of your drive shaft and any attached mechanisms allow it, remove the drive shaft’s attachment (e.g. circlip) at the gear case assembly. This will allow the lower unit to be removed, although the (cheaper) water pump may be damaged. It will then be possible to get direct access to where the spline is seized into the crankshaft. Again in retrospect, it probably was not necessary to grind flats into the drive shaft (a $300+ part on this Honda) to pull it out. Slitting a tube lengthwise in half on two opposing sides, grinding flats on the outside of the half tubes and clamping them to the drive shaft would have provided the necessary friction on the shaft and a place to mount the crosspieces without damaging the shaft. The only reason I used two bottle jacks was to balance the extraction force on both sides of the shaft.
Had a 1987 115 yamy many years ago that went from needed a new shift shaft to cut into pieces. The old don't fix it if it ain't broke doesn't work with saltwater outboards. Gotta take them apart often to keep them from welding together. totally agree with this video.....but it cost me to figure it out in the end.
AIR HAMMER A BRASS ROD TO THE DRIVESYAFT NEAR THE POWER HEAD!. I used a nail driver attachment and KROIL. The brass will deliver vibration but not damage the steel of the driveshaft. This will make a lower unit removal much easier. I took nylon felling wedges and cut them in half length wise. No damage to the aluminum. A dealer told me it was impossible to remove. All the wedge marks on my lower were from them. I removed easily without causing any damage.
another way to take the lower unit off is bya using pulleys, atach one with rope all arround the lower unit and in the other side, put the pulley into a really secure structure, then start to pull until the lower unit its free, it worked for me a lot of times.
We used to have a prop with a piece of Chain links bolted to it. Disconnect the lower unit put the unbalance prop on and run it on the hose. Then pray.
I had an old Merc 2.4 liter 200. The drive shaft was stuck. I sold the motor for 600 bucks to a salvage guy and purchased a factory reman the is still going strong 15 years later.
Crazy how it could take 30 minutes or complete replacement. Mother Nature’s welding. By the way I did both my 20 year old Honda 115’s water pumps in just over an hour after 8 years of use.
I’m glad I’m only in fresh water after watching this was wondering if you have ever done a video on what’s in your bag or cart for tools you carry with you
That was a lot of damage, yes. There might be a way to force the lower unit away from the plate above the lower unit, if present, using an improvised wedge. Yanking the motor in between applying force on the wedge might also help, if the problem sits in the shaft spline. I once had to work several days on an old Mercury 50 with a corroded / stuck spline, ending with drilling a 40mm hole high in the mid-section to use a torch and chisel on the shaft. Eventually, it yelded, no harm done. The hole was plugged with a rubber cap.
We had this problem. Tried a bunch of stuff then bought two mini machinist jacks from Amazon for $24 bucks. We put them between the fins using some shims for a little cushion and washers to level them out. It tools some cranking and a lot of solvent but we were able to push off the lower unit without any damage. Pro Series by HIPP adjustable screw jacks 1.57 inch to 2.2 inch on Amazon they have larger sizes
I had a pair of 89 Johnson 225s I had to scrap the pair that both ran because the starboard lower vertical shaft was fused to the power head even had a fork lift in the mix and still couldn’t get it to come off. Re-powered with a great set of used ocean runners.
One more trick to add to the video. If the drive shaft is stuck in the crank . . . Loosen all bolts (but don’t remove them) put the boat in the water and shift the engine forward and then reverse 25 times. The lower will usually drop.
Believe it or not I had my lower unit on my 2013 etec 225hp fall off because the mechanic forgot to tighten the bolts after replacing the water pump. It was a long and embarrassing ride home on my 9.9 kicker. After 2 hours of arguing with the company the guy admitted he forgot to tighten the bolts. The shift lever pin broke off also. They had to fix the pin and put on a brand new lower unit which cost a bundle. Love my etec though and has awesome power compared to my mercury 225 and much better mileage.
The only truly stuck lower unit I ever experienced was a 1973 Mercruiser 120 hp I/O ( it was about 1980 ). After about 4-5 hours of beating and prying in 90 degree weather and sweating like a ho in church, I bought a new outdrive
Damn Verado ... I have run plenty of notes 2 and four strokes , with the lower removed and a garden hose hooked directly to the tube that comes off the water pump to the power head , any other motors that run more than the water pump off the drive shaft
User engagement! Thankfully I've never had to remove a stuck lower unit on Mercury the drives our pontoon. I'm not even going to look in the direction of the little outboards that have been up at the lake for 30 years...
The hammer and chisel weren’t big enough....lol....I love Kroil, trying using a Microlux chisel-it’s the size of a Dremel or use an oscillating tool with smaller blades... and liberal use of threadlocker blue helps keeps corrosion welding at bay ....keep these great vids coming!!!
Man crazy you did a video on this lol I picked up a 225 Suzuki down in key west the owner hit a rock or rocks lol I ended up having to cut it off Royal mission but I got it for 1500 and it’s a clean motor ready for a new lower unit
You have to be very light with it. If you put grease on the top of the shaft or you put enough grease on it that repetitive installations make it have lots of Grease up top you can hydrolock it and the Shaft won't go all the way into the pocket.
If you own a 1970-1990s Suzuki DT outboard DO NOT DISASSEMBLE THE WATER PUMP TO GET IT OFF WHEN THERES A SMALL GAP BETWEEN THE LOWER AND MIDSECTION you must disconnect the shift Shaft under the power head
We have this issue of the drive shaft spline binding with the crank shaft with the Suzuki engines IF you do not put grease on the end of the drive shaft spline after servicing the impeller.
Stuck lower units are a real pain never had one so bad as had to destroy, a couple on old evinrudes that took 2 days each. As the vid says, esp if you use in salt water annual maintenance is key. Even if telltale jet is good and no impeller to replace, dropping bottom unit is key. Whether you use grease or anti-seize is moot, it's dropping the lower unit that's key. Promise it will save you $$$$$ in the long run
I have the opposite problem, got the lower unit out, now I can’t get it to go back in. It’s stuck about 1 inch from going all the way in. Any ideas? Thanks
I finally got it back in, I had found another video on TH-cam that showed a guy who used tiedown straps to hold the lower unit in place once it’s almost back in, (as I said about an inch of going all the way in), then he said to put your boat in gear, and slowly try to wiggle the prop with your hand, mine was very hard to turn, felt like I barely moved it a millimeter left or right but in doing that all of a sudden the gears lined up and it slid right in. Hope this might help someone else with the same problem.
I have an 81 johnson that had this issue, driveshaft was stuck in the crank, I had separated the lower unit about a 1/4 of an inch then put on the muffs and started the engine. after about 30 seconds lower unit just fell out
Great video, now can you divulge your techniques on extracting a stuck woodroof key? I’ll be doing my water pumps this summer and I’m already regretting it.
I start with vice grips clamped to them. If you can weld, Weld a bolt on the end of em that a slide hammer can attach to. Use that to pop it out. The alternatives are using side cutters to lift it out or (my last resort) Dremel tool and cutting disk to grind it out. Be careful not to enlarge the keyway too much when grinding.
Fireship1 Don’t know the first thing about welding but my thoughts for the next one if it gives me trouble is to use a small drill/ tap set and screw in a bolt and use the slide hammer
If you have full access to the key, say the pulley is off for example, sometimes a drift pin with a hammer can knock it loose or to the point of getting something on it like vice grips or side cutters. try tapping it out from the bottom also if the keyway goes all the way thru.
Hit it with a torch for a few minutes, apply wd40, then tap the key with a screwdriver or chisel almost on the end of the flat part of the key, aiming the chisel towards the center of the driveshaft. The key will rotate in the notch and eventually come out.
The best tip for getting a stuck drive shaft out two way if you have air available an air hammer on the drive shaft up by the top of the power head an they fall out has been my luck never had to cut one yet or wedge on the back of the lower unit and start stop the motor to work is loss tight up the wedge when air was not available some real bad one both tips used but air hammer it the key with a long drift even have started a motor and hit air hammer to break up the rust
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Even in freshwater once every 2 years the lower should be pulled whether that’s impeller or gear lube you gotta do that so u can keep the engine for a long time
Thanks I got off with no damage. Heavy hammer works way better forget the rubber mallet. The first hit on the rear bolt head knocked that side loose. When I had been hitting it with the mallet for a day and a half, spraying the crack. Thanks blueboat5917.
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My case on the lower unit split easily but it will only slide a few inches, as it slides out it pulls into reverse and as I push it back in it goes in gear. Do i need to disconnect the crankshaft or something??
What can cause an outboard motor to not throttle up while in the water? Runs fine out of water but as soon as it gets in the water and I go full throttle it barely goes. It’s a 1990 Mercury 150HP 2 stroke Black Max. I have replaced the fuel/water separator filter, the fuel lines and the fuel filter. Please help me!!!!!
thats one of the worst parts of working on old lower units, i've put 2 screwdrivers on each side and then used the nut on the free end to pivot the stuck end out
Im a freak when it comes to beeing one or two steps before the problems. Also that I enjoy working on my things, so yes I have pulled lower units 1 or 2 times per year just to check them and do the greasing. So no, so far never had any problems with this just because im way ahead of this issues. 👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌
If I showed up at the marina and saw that some bonehead destroying the lower unit ($1500+) AND midsection ($250) of my outboard with a claw hammer and cold chisels, he'd leave that day missing some teeth. Why didn't you just apply torch heat with a rosebud tip to expand the casting areas near the locating dowels? Pretty damn rare case where the proper application of heat won't separate components. But if you've got to destroy something to get it apart, cut the midsection casing/muffler apart with a cut-off wheel for god's sake, they're cheap, and leave the lower unit undamaged. Then you can apply heat to the driveshaft up near the crank to get it to release. At least I know where NOT to take my boat to get it worked on.
Great tips since I'm days away from purchasing a stand new outboard. And I have a 6 year old kicker and I'm about to replace the impeller for the first time
Library is always good for free books or just get a laptop and buy the book from internet and put it in a pendrive be a useful mechanic i haved fix stuff with a penny for real
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OMG, this vid made me cringe. Using a claw hammer to whack at the lower unit to try to break it apart, UG! Then the chisels and other various things to wedge between the lower unit and the anti ventilation plate area. AHHHHH!!! At least it was mentioned to put grease on all the points where it could be frozen together. Thats what I do every single time I drop my lower unit, grease every mating surface and I even put grease on the bolts or nuts. I even put a slather of grease around the entire lower units mating surface before putting it back into the engine. But before I grease anything, I use scotchbright and fresh water to clean up the mating surfaces to either clean up any bare metals or clean up any painted areas. 1992 Mercury Black Max 150.
Hitting my lower unit with a roofing hammer and driving the wedges ruining my motor I think I would freak out. Never let THAT tech work on my stuff. Just because he is in a hurry doesn't give him the right to cost you a motor. Kroil is great stuff but it has to sink in. Soak the motor for a couple days to see if that breaks it free. WOW..... Best advise you gave is to drop the unit in a year and lube all the points.
They should make it a law that if you bring a boat in for work with the front and skeg of the LU looking like that your boat gets confiscated and you are barred from the water for eternity.
Hi! This is Rose, I help Aaron with the comments, unfortunately I don’t have the answer to this specific question. But you can join his membership where you get to ask him questions and receive live answers www.youtube.com/@BornAgainBoating/membership or you can subscribe to his Podcast channel where he answers questions like this weekly. youtube.com/@TheBoatersPodcast?si=B9t3eyJAFjNyu7Dg .
Wow, I thought I was the only one who takes external bolts off of various parts on outboards and PWCs when they are new to add never seize. This technique has saved me tons of headaches over the years and doesn't take lots of time to do.. 👌👍👍👍
Just dealing with basic rust and corrosion in fresh water has me counting my blessings for not dealing with the salty mess that y'all have to put up with. I would never quote a flat rate if had to deal with that. But for buying used you could add the possible issues to the seller and add up the discount and hope you get lucky. I need to join the forum it looks pretty cool. Watching that tear down made me feel a little better about being in construction.
Working in a yacht club, we had a club rib with a 60 yamaha with over 3000 hours on it. Needed a new impellor and of course the driveshaft was seized into the powerhead.
After a lot of chiselling we ended up draining the oil, taking the engine off the transom and flipping it upside down. Doing this in the hope of allow penetranting fluid to run down the driveshaft and into the spline which was seized.
This didn't help, so our next step was strapping the lower until to a fixing in the concrete, and using our 12T crane to lifting on the powerhead, in the process ripping a hole into the side of the engine and it was a right off.
With the engine beyond repair we got the drive shaft apart with ALOT of heat and pulling.
When we had it apart finally there were parts of the spline from the crankshaft welded into the spline of the driveshaft.
Least to say it was a learning experience and to service the lower units regularly.
Looks like it would pay to drop the lower unit right out of the crate new to grease everything up to prevent that problem.
I had bad upper motor mounts in my last boat. It was a 250 mercury. I finally worked up the courage to lift the power head and change them. Once I took the power head off, I discovered the motor mount bolts were frozen in the swivel bracket. No amount of air hammer, penetrating oil or heat could free them. Luckily my local mercury dealer let me look through their bone yard and sold me used swivel bracket assembly with everything in it for $500 bucks!! Ran the boat for another year after that and then sold it for a $5000 profit!
As always, great content. I personally haven't had an issue with the lower unit; however, back 10 years ago I had to replace a poppet valve on a 2000 Mercury 150. Well, that turned into a weekend procedure as one of the bolts broke off from the head. Good thing that a piece was sticking out so that was a life saving as it let me unscrew that bolt one millimeter at a time. That life changing experience (LOL) taught me to apply grease on every screw I would take off. Cheers mate!
It seems like you might try using some plastic wedges like used in logging before you go to the steel. It would cause a lot less damage. I've also learned that large hammers are dramatically more effective than small ones on stuck parts, and often do less damage because of far fewer blows.
Dealing with it now.. 😅
After doing lots of reading and watching about how to remove a stuck lower unit, I finally found the solution that worked for me. I have a 2018 Mercury 150 four stroke with 300 hours of South Florida saltwater use. My plan was to follow the maintenance plan and do the first impeller change at 300 hours. Little did I know that the 4 years of never having the lower unit off would be a problem. It was. I pounded on the fins of the lower unit with a sledge hammer (using a wood block and rubber mat to protect the surface). After many strikes and only creating a minimal gap between the lower unit and midsection, I tried a little bit of wedging with wood and plastic materials but that didn't work well for me. Finally, I read a suggestion to lower the motor to a vertical position and carefully stand on the fins of the lower unit while holding on to the cowl of the enigne for balance. Important safety note here is to make sure you have all of the major mounting nuts (or bolts depending on your make and model) in place but loosely installed so the lower unit (with you on it) doesn't go crashing to the ground but has a little room to separate from the midsection. After rocking up and down with all 230 lbs of my weight about 20 times I finally got some significant (half inch maybe) separation between the two sections. I climbed off the motor, moved it back to the tilted up position, removed all of those loosely mounted bolts and carefully pulled the lower unit off the engine the rest of the way. It seems the driveshaft was stuck where it inserts into the powerhead.
Hello brother, usually when this occurs it has been the larger model Yamaha 30 inch shaft motors with the spacer and what I do is hole saw a hole through the spacer in line with the water pump housing and proceed to cut the drive shaft off with a chamfered welding rod for cutting steel, just above the water pump housing, then using a puller I designed I then slide the puller over the remaining piece of drive shaft, weld the drive shaft to the puller and pull the drive shaft out of the crankshaft, I then clean the crankshaft splines, lubricant spray , lubricate the new drive shaft splines ( preferably with 101 ) and install a new gear case 😃 thank you for the informative videos
Just remove the whole midsection/muffler with a cut-off wheel. Then heat the shaft up near the crank and apply some penetrant. A used midsection and muffler is cheap compared to a driveshaft on most motors, and you're gonna destroy it anyway drilling that hole.
My son is a Yamaha and Mercury tech and he just did this to my 2021 Yamaha f250 when he did the 20 hour service..great video
Did your son go to Marine mechanics institute?
No he started working at the repair shop he is at in high school As an apprentice is way up and he’s now a full mechanic been there for at least eight years now
khris norwood okay cool I’m going to mmi to become a marine mechanic, how does the like it?
@@forniafishing he really enjoys it he’s got a really nice set up his boss gave him a spot and my son lives in a travel trailer rent free no electricity or nothing and basically has nothing to spend his money on but his boats he owns. He also has free rain of the shop on the weekends and he buys old boats fixes them and resales them.
khris norwood sounds really good I’m lookin to do that
That verado with the hole saw drilled in the midsection is serious commitment thats when shit gets serious! 🤣 one that stands out for me was once I had a 150 yam 4 stroke come in and the drivehshaft was stuck in the midsection, the guide bushes had swollen so tight around the driveshaft it would make a high pitch squeeling noise whilst running. Tried everything to get that gearbox off, forklift pushing down on it, porta power, heat, etc, pulled the powerhead off and used a thick drift and a massive sledge hammer to hammer the driveshaft down, forced it back up and back down heaps of times I remember we only got it separated about an inch. One of those jobs where the hours clock up quick and becomes financially unwise to continue so opted and proceeded for a repower.
"Use a dead blow mallot", proceeds to whack the lower unit with roofing hammer....
Used roofing hammer after the dead blow mallet. Silly rabbit stop being that guy..
Actually I liked this candidness. IFTTT thing. If shaking it doesn't do, then chisel it, then mallot, ........ then hack, hammer it .
15 HP Hondas have a seal around the top of the drive shaft to keep cooling (salt in our case) water away from the spline. The seal failed on one of our motors and corrosion welded the drive shaft spline to the crankshaft. While trying to pull the lower unit off, the circlip in a groove at the bottom of the drive shaft broke the end of the shaft off. The repair shop said it was not economically worth having them fix it. I was able to save the motor by sliding a metal plate with a hole down the shaft to rest against the end of the crankshaft. I ground flat sections on opposite sides of the shaft (it was going to be replaced anyways) and clamped two metal crosspieces to the shaft. Two hydraulic bottle jacks between the crosspieces and the plate forced the drive shaft spline out of the crankshaft. Other than time spent, the hardest part of the job was inserting a circlip on the bottom of a new drive shaft in the tight confines of the gear case assembly at the bottom of the lower unit. The motor ran fine after that for the remaining couple of years that we had it.
In retrospect, the lesson I learned (and the shop should have known) is that if you suspect the drive shaft spline is stuck into the crankshaft and if the geometry of your drive shaft and any attached mechanisms allow it, remove the drive shaft’s attachment (e.g. circlip) at the gear case assembly. This will allow the lower unit to be removed, although the (cheaper) water pump may be damaged. It will then be possible to get direct access to where the spline is seized into the crankshaft. Again in retrospect, it probably was not necessary to grind flats into the drive shaft (a $300+ part on this Honda) to pull it out. Slitting a tube lengthwise in half on two opposing sides, grinding flats on the outside of the half tubes and clamping them to the drive shaft would have provided the necessary friction on the shaft and a place to mount the crosspieces without damaging the shaft. The only reason I used two bottle jacks was to balance the extraction force on both sides of the shaft.
Had a 1987 115 yamy many years ago that went from needed a new shift shaft to cut into pieces. The old don't fix it if it ain't broke doesn't work with saltwater outboards. Gotta take them apart often to keep them from welding together. totally agree with this video.....but it cost me to figure it out in the end.
For a stuck drive shaft I’ve used a wedge on one side then hooked up cooling water and started the engine, sometimes the shaft will work itself out.
AIR HAMMER A BRASS ROD TO THE DRIVESYAFT NEAR THE POWER HEAD!. I used a nail driver attachment and KROIL. The brass will deliver vibration but not damage the steel of the driveshaft. This will make a lower unit removal much easier. I took nylon felling wedges and cut them in half length wise. No damage to the aluminum. A dealer told me it was impossible to remove. All the wedge marks on my lower were from them. I removed easily without causing any damage.
another way to take the lower unit off is bya using pulleys, atach one with rope all arround the lower unit and in the other side, put the pulley into a really secure structure, then start to pull until the lower unit its free, it worked for me a lot of times.
We used to have a prop with a piece of Chain links bolted to it. Disconnect the lower unit put the unbalance prop on and run it on the hose. Then pray.
Greetings from Poland. I have the same problem with Suzuki df150 from 2017. And only like 150 hours from last impeler change.
I had an old Merc 2.4 liter 200. The drive shaft was stuck. I sold the motor for 600 bucks to a salvage guy and purchased a factory reman the is still going strong 15 years later.
Crazy how it could take 30 minutes or complete replacement. Mother Nature’s welding. By the way I did both my 20 year old Honda 115’s water pumps in just over an hour after 8 years of use.
I’m glad I’m only in fresh water after watching this was wondering if you have ever done a video on what’s in your bag or cart for tools you carry with you
Quick easy condensed point made from the video,... lower your lower unit prematurely and reinstall it will save you tons of effort later on.
That was a lot of damage, yes. There might be a way to force the lower unit away from the plate above the lower unit, if present, using an improvised wedge. Yanking the motor in between applying force on the wedge might also help, if the problem sits in the shaft spline. I once had to work several days on an old Mercury 50 with a corroded / stuck spline, ending with drilling a 40mm hole high in the mid-section to use a torch and chisel on the shaft. Eventually, it yelded, no harm done. The hole was plugged with a rubber cap.
We had this problem. Tried a bunch of stuff then bought two mini machinist jacks from Amazon for $24 bucks. We put them between the fins using some shims for a little cushion and washers to level them out. It tools some cranking and a lot of solvent but we were able to push off the lower unit without any damage.
Pro Series by HIPP adjustable screw jacks 1.57 inch to 2.2 inch on Amazon they have larger sizes
I had a pair of 89 Johnson 225s I had to scrap the pair that both ran because the starboard lower vertical shaft was fused to the power head even had a fork lift in the mix and still couldn’t get it to come off. Re-powered with a great set of used ocean runners.
One more trick to add to the video. If the drive shaft is stuck in the crank . . . Loosen all bolts (but don’t remove them) put the boat in the water and shift the engine forward and then reverse 25 times. The lower will usually drop.
Yamaha 150’s have a bearing that likes to swell and grab the shaft if they sit over saltwater too long.
Believe it or not I had my lower unit on my 2013 etec 225hp fall off because the mechanic forgot to tighten the bolts after replacing the water pump. It was a long and embarrassing ride home on my 9.9 kicker. After 2 hours of arguing with the company the guy admitted he forgot to tighten the bolts. The shift lever pin broke off also. They had to fix the pin and put on a brand new lower unit which cost a bundle. Love my etec though and has awesome power compared to my mercury 225 and much better mileage.
mouse milk works great too esp on exhaust system bolts/nuts, use it alot on radials for 40 years.
The only truly stuck lower unit I ever experienced was a 1973 Mercruiser 120 hp I/O ( it was about 1980 ). After about 4-5 hours of beating and prying in 90 degree weather and sweating like a ho in church, I bought a new outdrive
Damn Verado ... I have run plenty of notes 2 and four strokes , with the lower removed and a garden hose hooked directly to the tube that comes off the water pump to the power head , any other motors that run more than the water pump off the drive shaft
User engagement!
Thankfully I've never had to remove a stuck lower unit on Mercury the drives our pontoon. I'm not even going to look in the direction of the little outboards that have been up at the lake for 30 years...
The hammer and chisel weren’t big enough....lol....I love Kroil, trying using a Microlux chisel-it’s the size of a Dremel or use an oscillating tool with smaller blades... and liberal use of threadlocker blue helps keeps corrosion welding at bay ....keep these great vids coming!!!
thanks!!
Yes i did yesterday but it's stock alternative to remove power head in other not to damage the Lower unit
Why are you hitting a cast aluminum part with a steel hammer?
Man crazy you did a video on this lol I picked up a 225 Suzuki down in key west the owner hit a rock or rocks lol I ended up having to cut it off Royal mission but I got it for 1500 and it’s a clean motor ready for a new lower unit
Why do some people say NEVER put 2-4-C or other marine grease on the driveshaft splines? When I was younger all the guys I knew used to do that.
You have to be very light with it. If you put grease on the top of the shaft or you put enough grease on it that repetitive installations make it have lots of Grease up top you can hydrolock it and the Shaft won't go all the way into the pocket.
@@growlith6969 thanks very much! I always wondered about that!
When I pulled the power head off my 01 OX66 it was the dowel pins I struggled with
Had this happen to me with my ‘62 5.5 Evinrude. You have to remove the powerhead to disconnect the shift shaft on it 😂 absolutely crazy.
Could you do a video on hydrofoils? Like with differences, drill, no-drill, and real life testing?
If you own a 1970-1990s Suzuki DT outboard DO NOT DISASSEMBLE THE WATER PUMP TO GET IT OFF WHEN THERES A SMALL GAP BETWEEN THE LOWER AND MIDSECTION you must disconnect the shift Shaft under the power head
We have this issue of the drive shaft spline binding with the crank shaft with the Suzuki engines IF you do not put grease on the end of the drive shaft spline after servicing the impeller.
heart breaking video. noooooo way to reach to this point all needs to do preventive maintenance thanks buddy
Stuck lower units are a real pain never had one so bad as had to destroy, a couple on old evinrudes that took 2 days each. As the vid says, esp if you use in salt water annual maintenance is key. Even if telltale jet is good and no impeller to replace, dropping bottom unit is key. Whether you use grease or anti-seize is moot, it's dropping the lower unit that's key. Promise it will save you $$$$$ in the long run
I have the opposite problem, got the lower unit out, now I can’t get it to go back in. It’s stuck about 1 inch from going all the way in. Any ideas? Thanks
I finally got it back in, I had found another video on TH-cam that showed a guy who used tiedown straps to hold the lower unit in place once it’s almost back in, (as I said about an inch of going all the way in), then he said to put your boat in gear, and slowly try to wiggle the prop with your hand, mine was very hard to turn, felt like I barely moved it a millimeter left or right but in doing that all of a sudden the gears lined up and it slid right in. Hope this might help someone else with the same problem.
I’ve herd of guys running the motor in a tank with all of the bolts off. We don’t usually have to deal with those problems in Michigan.
Leave 2 bolts in loose so the lower doesnt fly off and break something else. Ive heard the same thing.
i just bought three new motors so this is life saving advice.
A good water resistant grease on those mating surfaces helps.
I have an 81 johnson that had this issue, driveshaft was stuck in the crank, I had separated the lower unit about a 1/4 of an inch then put on the muffs and started the engine. after about 30 seconds lower unit just fell out
Great video, now can you divulge your techniques on extracting a stuck woodroof key? I’ll be doing my water pumps this summer and I’m already regretting it.
I start with vice grips clamped to them. If you can weld, Weld a bolt on the end of em that a slide hammer can attach to. Use that to pop it out. The alternatives are using side cutters to lift it out or (my last resort) Dremel tool and cutting disk to grind it out. Be careful not to enlarge the keyway too much when grinding.
Fireship1 Don’t know the first thing about welding but my thoughts for the next one if it gives me trouble is to use a small drill/ tap set and screw in a bolt and use the slide hammer
@@johnweisskopf8274 any way you can attach that small slide hammer to the vice grips should work. I usually get them out fast like that.
If you have full access to the key, say the pulley is off for example, sometimes a drift pin with a hammer can knock it loose or to the point of getting something on it like vice grips or side cutters. try tapping it out from the bottom also if the keyway goes all the way thru.
Hit it with a torch for a few minutes, apply wd40, then tap the key with a screwdriver or chisel almost on the end of the flat part of the key, aiming the chisel towards the center of the driveshaft. The key will rotate in the notch and eventually come out.
You need to check your facts in Logan Queensland Australia we have had delivery’s like this for more then two years.
A product called "knock er loose " is the best I have ever seen , likely would have to be internet ordered
Man I coulda used this video two weeks ago when I was down in the keys fishing lol
Would it be a good idea to remove the lower on a new outboard and use anti-seize on those problem areas?
The best tip for getting a stuck drive shaft out two way if you have air available an air hammer on the drive shaft up by the top of the power head an they fall out has been my luck never had to cut one yet or wedge on the back of the lower unit and start stop the motor to work is loss tight up the wedge when air was not available some real bad one both tips used but air hammer it the key with a long drift even have started a motor and hit air hammer to break up the rust
would like to hear your thoughts Inboard vs Outboard?? And if buying used would be a factor in the choice??
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Even in freshwater once every 2 years the lower should be pulled whether that’s impeller or gear lube you gotta do that so u can keep the engine for a long time
My buddy is great at unsticking lower units! He can do it with nothing more than a trip up river and a rock!
Thanks I got off with no damage. Heavy hammer works way better forget the rubber mallet. The first hit on the rear bolt head knocked that side loose. When I had been hitting it with the mallet for a day and a half, spraying the crack. Thanks blueboat5917.
Grease is the word!😎
Awesome video as always ! 👊 Here's a comment to please the algorithm 😊
Heh, I thought mine was stuck on but it just needed a bit more vigor to come off. A small sludge hammer helped.
What about using some kind of water sealant after reassembly to keep the water out of that crease? Lol this makes me double think about buying a boat
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I have a FORCE 120 with a FORCE 150 LOWER UNIT and is missing the fin on the bottom. can I navigate the boat without that fin?
Would it be a good idea to put marine grease on these contact points to try and prevent this sticking?
Yes. dropping it yearly in salt water to regrease wouldnt be a bad idea either.
My case on the lower unit split easily but it will only slide a few inches, as it slides out it pulls into reverse and as I push it back in it goes in gear. Do i need to disconnect the crankshaft or something??
I've found Suzuki to be the worst for stuck lower units. I use LST- made by LPS- as a penetrant. That and some heat.
What can cause an outboard motor to not throttle up while in the water? Runs fine out of water but as soon as it gets in the water and I go full throttle it barely goes. It’s a 1990 Mercury 150HP 2 stroke Black Max. I have replaced the fuel/water separator filter, the fuel lines and the fuel filter. Please help me!!!!!
thats one of the worst parts of working on old lower units, i've put 2 screwdrivers on each side and then used the nut on the free end to pivot the stuck end out
Stuck lowers....customer never seem to understand how it gets that bad....I think I will refer them to this video in the future.
Im a freak when it comes to beeing one or two steps before the problems. Also that I enjoy working on my things, so yes I have pulled lower units 1 or 2 times per year just to check them and do the greasing. So no, so far never had any problems with this just because im way ahead of this issues. 👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌
Can you do a video how do about stuck powerhead. That’s my problem now 😔
Another great video! Hopefully can help people be educated and more understanding!
I hope so!
If I showed up at the marina and saw that some bonehead destroying the lower unit ($1500+) AND midsection ($250) of my outboard with a claw hammer and cold chisels, he'd leave that day missing some teeth. Why didn't you just apply torch heat with a rosebud tip to expand the casting areas near the locating dowels? Pretty damn rare case where the proper application of heat won't separate components. But if you've got to destroy something to get it apart, cut the midsection casing/muffler apart with a cut-off wheel for god's sake, they're cheap, and leave the lower unit undamaged. Then you can apply heat to the driveshaft up near the crank to get it to release. At least I know where NOT to take my boat to get it worked on.
Using a steel hammer against the aluminum lower half...not a good idea. How about a 2x4 section to pound against? Or a soft rubber hammer. My 2 cents.
We had to pull a sterndrive off a boat with the tractor once.. lol
Great tips since I'm days away from purchasing a stand new outboard. And I have a 6 year old kicker and I'm about to replace the impeller for the first time
Good luck I have been waiting a month on a Suzuki and I’m assuming I’m gone be waiting at least another month or two
Gears on my force 85 are seized, prop won't turn. Any ideas on how to unseize, there was water signs when lower case dropped. Thx
Have you ever lightly greased the mating surfaces of the lower unit and the leg?
Not really, just the pins and the rubber exhaust piece
As far as hammers I like my 2# brass hammers
I can’t find the community? Can someone send a link? Nice video!
try this link: www.bornagainboating.com/register/free-bab-community/
I feel like his hat should be standard uniform for all techs 😎
Library is always good for free books or just get a laptop and buy the book from internet and put it in a pendrive be a useful mechanic i haved fix stuff with a penny for real
Do you have any experience with stern drive engineering lower units?
Great video and info 👍🏾
My thoughts are this...
If this happens, that's depressing. Salt water is the worst.
Do you have vids on stuck propellers,I mean really welded stuck,lol your vids are always great
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OMG, this vid made me cringe. Using a claw hammer to whack at the lower unit to try to break it apart, UG! Then the chisels and other various things to wedge between the lower unit and the anti ventilation plate area. AHHHHH!!! At least it was mentioned to put grease on all the points where it could be frozen together. Thats what I do every single time I drop my lower unit, grease every mating surface and I even put grease on the bolts or nuts. I even put a slather of grease around the entire lower units mating surface before putting it back into the engine. But before I grease anything, I use scotchbright and fresh water to clean up the mating surfaces to either clean up any bare metals or clean up any painted areas. 1992 Mercury Black Max 150.
Be glad he was using some sort of hammer. I’ll use a brick. IDGAF.
@@chevyon37s LMFAO!
Hitting my lower unit with a roofing hammer and driving the wedges ruining my motor I think I would freak out. Never let THAT tech work on my stuff. Just because he is in a hurry doesn't give him the right to cost you a motor. Kroil is great stuff but it has to sink in. Soak the motor for a couple days to see if that breaks it free. WOW..... Best advise you gave is to drop the unit in a year and lube all the points.
And if non of the above works. take the forklift or a truck tie a rope or strap to the gear case and give it a pull it will come right down.
Good idea
At what point will the transom break?
Good information! Thanks.
You're welcome!
Nothings more frustrating than youtube videos repeating themselves on pointless matter while you’re in your backyard trying to fix something
lol I feel that
I always hose entire engine with fresh water after I flush it......every time. Salt water is a killer
Been there done that...BTW Kroil is the best!!!!!
They should make it a law that if you bring a boat in for work with the front and skeg of the LU looking like that your boat gets confiscated and you are barred from the water for eternity.
Do I need to remove the shift linkage before removing the lower unit?
Hi! This is Rose, I help Aaron with the comments, unfortunately I don’t have the answer to this specific question. But you can join his membership where you get to ask him questions and receive live answers www.youtube.com/@BornAgainBoating/membership or you can subscribe to his Podcast channel where he answers questions like this weekly. youtube.com/@TheBoatersPodcast?si=B9t3eyJAFjNyu7Dg
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Brutal using a hammer like that, wonder why it cracked
Great Video....Again!
7:24 Now that was funny!