Lower Unit Seal Replacement for Evinrude 225?

latitudeajustment · March 2012

I must say I am impressed with the recent purchase of a used 96 E225. However, after running it at the dock Friday morning checking the control linkages I began to notice an oil sheen on the water. Checked the lower unit gear lube and naturally it is milky. I have never attempted to change out the seals before and read online you can do it but this may be something for an expert to tackle. Just trying to see what this may cost? At the same time dropping the lower unit will put in a new water pump as well. Any recommendations for a local mechanic? I have used a few people the last few years but curious to see what you recommend.

Thanks in advance!

Machine Head · March 2012

The seal is super easy to do and only costs a few bucks.
There should be 2 seals back to back.
I always buy extra seals so you have them incase of an emergency or out of town.
Every time fishing line gets around your prop shaft you should remove the prop and remove line from shaft.
If you don't line will burn into the seal and cause leakage.
Its so easy a caveman can do it.
The water pump I would only replace if your temp is up or not peeing strong.
With the new impeller it is a pain sometimes to get back together.
If it aint broke don't fix it.

latitudeajustment · March 2012

Thanks for the response. It sounded doable to do the prop shaft seal but was also thinking of doing the other seals if the decision was to drop the lower unit to do the water pump...but maybe I should hold off on this. The only reason I was thinking of doing the pump was it was apparently replaced 2 years ago by the previous owner. Looks like you think I may just need to replace the prop shaft seal only? I read online you may need some sort of puller to remove the bearing? Any thoughts on this?

Martin Local · March 2012

been down this route. get a mechanic. i use cliff at RIVERWALK MARINE 772-220-2084 a lot more to this than you think. unless you were some kind of a mechanic before. there is a little more to this that if you have never done stuff like this you will mess it up.

Machine Head · March 2012

The seals are made of pastic and has a spring inside.
The 1st seal keeps the oil in and the 2nd keeps the water out.
The seals come out with a screw driver and taking it out is easy.
If you destroy it in the process is no big deal.
Installing new seals is also no big deal.
Just tap it in using a hammer and piece of wood or soft tool evenly.
It must go in straight just be carefull not to drive it in an angle.
99 times out of 100 the water in the lower unit comes in from the prop shaft seal.
No need to worry about other seals.
If your impeller is pumping good no need to change.
My impeller is 10 years old.
It gets damaged from running in shallow water or from running aground.
Picking up sand and silt will wear the impeller down making it smaller and then not pump the needed water supply.
Lift motor before beaching boat and always push boat out to deeper water before lowering and starting.
Running motor without water will also destroy impeller because water lubricates the impeller.
PM me if you have questions or have a problem installing seal I will shot you my Phone no.

latitudeajustment · March 2012

MH thanks for the info and your suggestions and further assistance if required, I really do appreciate it as I have never attempted this before. Also, thanks Martin Local for the contact information for Riverwalk. I think may give this a go but still need to research further.

Machine Head · March 2012

Forgot to mention to drain lower gear lube 1st.
After you remove the prop and washer you will see the seals.
No need to remove Bearing just be sure to install seals the same direction they came out.

latitudeajustment · March 2012

MH, sounds like I should see the seals after removing the prop and washer...never looked that closely before inside the prop hub so I just thought I would double check this with you....the link here is to the BRP site specific parts diagram for this motor...looks like the prop shaft seal is #27 in the blowup diagram-I am only seeing a need to change out 1 seal #27? Or maybe the seals come in the package separately and you snap them together with the spring? Also, I am guessing you need to change out the O-ring #17 as well? Looks like there is another O-ring behind the Bearing Housing Seal Assembly #24 which would indicate you would need to pull out #24 to get to the other O-ring? Or maybe you don't need to worry about this. Just trying to get this done right the first time if I go this route.

Let me know what you think when you get a chance.

http://shop2.evinrude.com/Index.aspx?s1=tro2556adgn2lt0sm9jsvflo50&catalog_id=0&siteid=1

Machine Head · March 2012

Yo Latitude

Your lower unit is slightly different than Im used to.
The seal has 2 wipers in one instead of 2 seals.
You need the shaft seal part 27 and and if you look at the diagram(exploded view) it only can go in 1 way.
The shaft spins inside of seal and that is where you have leakage.
The o-ring is not needed it is stationary and has no working or spinning parts.
The seal is 17 dollars which is alot compared to most but like I mentioned earlier get 2.
I fixed my seal a few years ago only to have fishing line wear the new seal out again 2 months later.
The key is to remove the line as soon as possible if it gets in your prop.
It should be easy to change out dont worry about destroying the old one.

latitudeajustment · March 2012

Ok....you think I can simply pull the seal off with a screwdriver or needle nose pliers without damaging anything? If I can get it off I am sure I can get the new one on with a hammer and wooden dowel or something similar with light tapping.

Machine Head · March 2012

I just use larger screwdriver and position it toward the middle of seal(exploded view shows shelf in middle)
Then tap on with hammer till I made a hole in seal then pryed outwards.
You might have to make holes on both sides.
As long as you don't scatch the shaft or the race surface it doesn't matter how ugly the seal gets.
It really wasn't that bad Its just plastic and wire, if you have problems just call me.

latitudeajustment · March 2012

OK thanks...appreciate the tips and plan on giving this a go in the next day or so...will PM you soon to get your #...

Martin Local · March 2012

do you even know which seal is leaking? there is a shift shaft seal, drive shaft seal and the seal at the prop. i have seen all go bad. and if you don't pressure test the lower unit before during and after you will not know if you fixed one or all the leaks before its two late. once you fix one seal the other may still be leaking. just sayin'... it's not like your going to blow the lower with a little water, but if you fix one leak and thats it you may put it all back together only to find out that another was leaking as well and have to pull the whole thing off again. and you said it was an OMC so don't get the shift shaft out of allignment or it wont shift right when you put it back together.

latitudeajustment · March 2012

ML, I do not know where the leak is coming from. Without a pressure test who knows. So, after much thought I now plan on having the gear lube drained and a pressure test done by a mechanic to determine where it is leaking from. I am venturing to guess the leak is coming from the prop shaft seal and that is why I was focusing on that seal. However, given the age of the motor there may be issues with the other seals as well. We shall see. Thanks for the comments and feedback. I am hoping for the best and this does not turn out to be a huge $$ for me.

Machine Head · March 2012

Pull the prop and washer and see if gear lube is around shaft seal.
It should be dry if not its the shaft seal.

Martin Local · March 2012

just because you see gear lube on one seal doesn't mean the others are not leaking the gearlube is just taking the path of least resistance.
watch out for which mechanic you choose. some will just charge a fee for just looking at your stuff. that is one of the reasons why i use the mechanic mentioned above. he is honest and will tell you whats up before you dump a ton of $$ into it. and sometimes he is very very busy to take on new jobs, but he can definately send you in the right direction to do it yourself or to another honest mechanic if he is to busy.

Griz · March 2012

If you need a mechanic I have a mobile that will come to you. Have been using him for over ten years. PM if you need a number.

snooknreds2 · March 2012

Curious which route you go here and which seal(s) it ends up being.

Griz · March 2012

If you do it yourself why not document with pictures and post up a tutorial?:full

snooknreds2 · March 2012

Griz, great idea!! You are always willing to give advice and help somebody out! I remember years ago I was looking for a bottom finder on here and you went out of your way to help me..... Keep up the good karma!

latitudeajustment · March 2012

Thanks for all the feedback, gave it a go today but I did not see the comments from Griz about taking pics and such until I came home, oh well. I did take a few before pics for reference. Anyway, it was not an easy task but I got what I thought was the old seal out and attempted several times to put the new one in. What I did not know was part of the old seal - a metal ring which I thought was supposed to be there - was still in there which after many attempts trying to install my new seal unfortunately ruined it...ugh! Called the dealership and they had 1 more in stock with more to arrive next week. Dealt with lunch traffic and back to the boat an hour later. Started to continue to try and put the new seal in which still was not working...one side would go in and I could not get the other to follow even with a few taps of the hammer. With unknowingly have the old metal ring in there, I continued to try and install the seal using a metal plumbing type of pipe to apply uniform pressure as much as possible. The pipe actually was a great idea but the old metal ring was the issue and once again the ring slightly damaged the new seal ...nothing major but a very slight and small tear in the outer part of the seal. Wish I took a picture of this as I my written description is not the best. Nothing huge but a very very slight tear was there but not through the seal itself, just on it's end. Finally asked a local mechanic who was there if that metal ring was part of the old seal and he confirmed it was. Took awhile but finally got it out and after several more attempts with the hammer and pipe was able to get the new one in...of course, there was now was a teeny weeny bit of flange visible from the slight tear noted above which was hanging on the edge of the carrier housing. Not sure if this going to be an issue but I did not want to force the seal in any more without potentially damaging it. The larger seal ring is seated just past the edge of the housing and the metal spring exposed on the outside of the seal sits about 1/8" just outside the carrier and sits up against the prop washer...should the seal be further in at a greater depth? The original seal seemed to be deeper in the housing. Lots of questions here. Anyway, I felt it was in as far as I could get it without tapping in more but it did not seem to be in as deep as the pictures I took before. Put in new gear lube oil which was no problem to add and then the prop and dropped the boat in and started it at the dock. After a few minutes I started to see a very slight sheen on the water and wondered if this may be simply old black exhaust residue which seemed to have built up from inside the prop hub as it was pretty black? Or your classic 2 stroke unburnt fuel/oil? Not sure but it was there although did not seem to be nearly as bad as when I first noticed the sheen issue last Friday. After 10 or 15 minutes, I shut her down. I did not cruise at all but wonder if this is ok or if there still is a leak somewhere? Obviously never did a pressure test so really don't know at this point. Curious to see what others have to say. I may go back in and try to slightly tap in the seal further with a wooden dowel and hammer. Maybe run the engine for awhile and check the gear lube once again. Thanks again for reading!!

Martin Local · March 2012

need to pressure test of run the boat for a while and check the gear lube. even if you fixed one seal the others could be leaking now.

latitudeajustment · April 2012

ML, I agree. I left the boat thinking I would make up a pressure test kit with a gauge and bicycle pump and drain the fluid and mostly save it for next time and then do the test over the weekend but there are too many issues at stake here and thankfully Griz responded with contact info for his mechanic who I have coming tomorrow to take the LU off and pressure test. Most likely he will replace the driveshaft seal and O-rings - these are most likely caked up with salt corrosion which is probably binding the drive-shaft when I shift in reverse which results in a bit of chatter sound which I do not like. The engine starts and runs well but also is idling too high. I am at the point I just want it to be fixed so we shall see what happens. The engine's water pump was do for a change as well so that will be done since the LU is coming off anyway.

Martin Local · April 2012

thats good glad to hear i hope griz's mechanic does you well i have used cliff at riverwalk marine for probably 15 yrs now and he is a straight honest business man who does more for free than he should to help out any courtious boater in need of help, he is mobile also and he has a shop. let us hear how it turns out. you should probably have all your seals done and get the water pump changed out while you have it off as well. thats good. hope everything turns out well.

Plane Fish n · April 2012

Martin Local wrote: »

thats good glad to hear i hope griz's mechanic does you well i have used cliff at riverwalk marine for probably 15 yrs now and he is a straight honest business man who does more for free than he should to help out any courtious boater in need of help, he is mobile also and he has a shop. let us hear how it turns out. you should probably have all your seals done and get the water pump changed out while you have it off as well. thats good. hope everything turns out well.

Patrick,

I agree with Martin Local..... Cliff is the guy you should have used.

Let us know how it turns out. In the meantime, you can fish with us!

Cheers buddy... say hello to Nancy.

latitudeajustment · April 2012

ML, thanks for your referral, I did not mean to indicate I did not appreciate it by any means but had already known about Griz's referral once I received it...plus the guy is like 5 minutes from the boat. Thankfully all went well today. I put the boat out on the lift and Frank (Franks Marine, Tequesta) showed up early to remove the LU and take back to his shop. I found out shortly after that there are actually 2 seals on the prop shaft! I did not know this as the parts schematic only showed 1 for my engine so I never would have had it right to begin with. As they say live and learn and now I know for the future. Anyway, he explained the rear seal was pretty bad after doing the pressure test. We decided to replace all seals as well as inspect the water pump and he noted the impeller looked fine but time to replace it anyway. He also wanted to replace the o-rings near the driveshaft as they were caked up with salt which was mostly likely causing some binding while moving the driveshaft while shifting. He had a few things to deal with in the AM but thankfully called and I met him at the boat just after noon and he re-installed the LU and began tweaking the idle while running on the muffs....we then put in the water to test the shifting and he adjusted the idle a bit more as well as the shift linkage. Shifting was now much better and the key factor seems to be to not gently shift but really move the shifter quickly. And, no noticeable sheen in the water while running at the dock! I took her out for a quick spin and she ran great! Came back in, put in reverse and just heard your normal "clunk". Frank suggested for me to call him next Monday after running the engine some this week so he could check the LU fluid once again for any water intrusion. Overall, very happy with his overall attitude and willingness to help me out and in addition follow up to make sure all is well. I will definitely use him again when the need arises.

Eric, thanks for reading and noting the referral of Cliff. It is always great having numerous contacts for outboard work. If I was closer to you both I most likely would have gone with Cliff. And for sure want to head out with you again, let me know the next time you need a mate!

So, big week ahead but hope to at least get offshore by Saturday really put the engine to work. We shall see. Thanks again for reading and replying, this forum is great!

Martin Local · April 2012

glad everything worked out well. already back to fishing and boating. the things that really matter in life..:wink

Lower Unit Seal Replacement for Evinrude 225?

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