Hello all,
I thought I posted this but now it is not appearing in my threads, so forgive me if this question appears twice.
I was in the process of swapping the impeller on my 2002 15hp 2-stroke
Mercury outboard. I brought the faceplate to a
marine store and he recommended that I replace the whole
water pump because the plate was pretty scratched up and the could be leaking
water.
I took out the old
water pump and
seals, which meant that the
gear case
oil had to come out too. I had changed the
gear case
oil at the end of the season last year, at which time it looked very gray. This seemed normal considering all the use it got last year on my 1,500 mile
cruise to
Maine. But when I drained the 'unused' oil, now it seemed a little milky to me.
Water getting in, I guess. Or was a little residual water already in there?
So, hopefully the water just got in at the water
pump, but to be sure I decided to replace the
seals and o-rings around the
propeller as well. Is there anything else I should look to do now to make sure the lower unit is completely water tight before put it back together and refill the gear oil? I have had the
motor for 3 years, and I have only been replacing the gear oil and impeller as routine
maintenance. Anything else that should be done?
Lastly, there is a ton of gunk in the
exhaust housing, both above and below the waterline. It is thick and greasy and almost a quarter inch thick in some places. Can I use some sort of solvent to clean this, or any other method? Will this kind of buildup cause me any problems, or is it the sign of any problems?
Thanks a lot for any tips and advice!
Jack