[Skidmark]

Since I'm not a member of any other forums including boat forums, I thought I would share my dilemma here with our trusted members and see what opinions I might get.

I hit some rocks last season and found out this summer my prop shaft was bent on my Suzuki 115 OB. I checked run off with a dial indicator and found the shaft was bent .120 thousand off. I have straightened it .050 thousand off so far very slowly (over 2 days) using a jack. When I started the process I noticed a very slight crack at the very end of the bearing carrier running perpendicular to the shaft. It was there before I started straightening the shaft. I was so focused on trying to get the jack, engine, and dial indicator set up, that I didn't notice that the slight crack extended a full inch. It does not look like it went far enough into the carrier to expose the lower unit oil to water, but was definitely caused by the rocks I hit because it starts at exactly 12:00 straight up. Anyway, I drained the lower unit fluid and the picture is what I got. You can see the water has settled to the bottom of the jar about 3/4".

Quick history: the fluid was changed 24 months ago and had about 10 hours of use on the water. Last year I left the boat in the water for 4-5 months with only the lower fill screw actually in the water ( engine tilted up).

Question: is the amount of water shown in the jar normal considering the factors listed above or is any water proof of a problem.

I'm tempted to continue straightening the shaft and fill fluid use boat a couple hours and drain fluid to inspect.

What are your thoughts?

[Skidmark]

Crack

[Mr Twister]

Any water in the gearcase is a problem. Your gearcase will need an open and inspection. That cracked part looks like a seal carrier, which should be available from Suzuki. So, a propshaft, seal carrier, seal kit, bearings (if the gears are not damaged from the strike, they can be reused) plus labor. Guessing $1500-2000.

[Skidmark]

[QUOTE=Mr Twister;6456463]Any water in the gearcase is a problem. Your gearcase will need an open and inspection. That cracked part looks like a seal carrier, which should be available from Suzuki. So, a propshaft, seal carrier, seal kit, bearings (if the gears are not damaged from the strike, they can be reused) plus labor. Guessing $1500-2000.[/QUOTE


Thanks, I appreciate the honest response. I kinda figured any water was a no go, but thought I'd ask. Special tools needed to repair so no diy. Parts are like 1100.00 so I bet your right on the money at 2000.00 repair bill. Now I'll just hope for no gear damage.

Sucks I was getting the boat ready to sale when I discovered the issue.

[george kujanski]

Agree, any water in the gearcase is an issue.

George

[george kujanski]

Agree, any water in the gearcase is an issue. Hitting it hard enuf to bend the shaft and crack the housing is even worse.

George

[Skidmark]

Originally Posted by george kujanski

Agree, any water in the gearcase is an issue. Hitting it hard enuf to bend the shaft and crack the housing is even worse.

George

Thanks George.

[nas t eh]

Well, while I agree you don’t want water in a gear case, reality is that many boaters do not look after their equipment very well and lots of gear cases don’t seal well. This results in many boats being run for much of the time with some water in the gear case often with very little negative consequences.
I had an old OMC stern drive, it let a little water in when ever it was used. I had it fully rebuilt and it still let water in. I changed the oil at the end of each boating season and in the middle of the season if it got a lot of use. It lasted at least ten years that way.

But your gear case likely was water tight before the damage and almost certainly could be again with the proper repair.

[Skidmark]

Originally Posted by nas t eh

Well, while I agree you don’t want water in a gear case, reality is that many boaters do not look after their equipment very well and lots of gear cases don’t seal well. This results in many boats being run for much of the time with some water in the gear case often with very little negative consequences.
I had an old OMC stern drive, it let a little water in when ever it was used. I had it fully rebuilt and it still let water in. I changed the oil at the end of each boating season and in the middle of the season if it got a lot of use. It lasted at least ten years that way.

But your gear case likely was water tight before the damage and almost certainly could be again with the proper repair.

Thanks, I thought about running it a few hours and drain it, check for water and do like you did on your omc.

The thing I'm concerned about is getting the rest of the ,050 bend out of the shaft. I'm thinking even if I could without breaking something else, I'd still have the cracked housing issue. I'll probably just bite the bullet and get it fixed to sell. Engine only has 260 hrs on it. If it was on its last leg I wouldn't even waste the money to repair and sell boat and trailer minus an engine.

[ID67goat]

I would replace the compete lower unit. You have enough broken parts that it probably doesn’t make sense to repair what you have.