Need advice on water in oil - evinrude 15HP

TheDL · **Joined:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:13 am **Posts:** 435

I have an older 15HP evinrude. Had the impeller replaced at Ward's marina in kingston 2 seasons back. Changed the lower unit oil at the end of that season and it was a bit milky...thought it might have been the little plastic seals in the fill/drain screws, so I put new ones in. Changed it this spring after another year of use and the oil was very milky:

Had a buddy walking me through on the phone, but I couldn't seem to get at the seals...removed the top and bottom bolt from pic #1 but coudln't seem to pull that section away from main motor and didn't want to force it. Now, I'm thinking of taking it into a marina for repair...unless someone has some good advice for me on how to tell exactly where the water is getting into the oil? or where to go next troubleshooting this issue? Can you tell anything from looking at the pic of prop shaft/seal?

If no advice on DIY, anyone know a good shop around brockville to take this into?

Thanks!

Hutchy · **Joined:** Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:06 pm **Posts:** 399

Utube the problem, it has great videos on everything, step by step. It saves me lots of repair costs.

Blue Pickerel · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:34 pm

Hello Steve, if all else fails, I had the same problem with my Merc. 40, and took my boat to J.P.
Marine, on Black Diamond Road, just north of the 401, and just east of 37. Paul, one of the owners
replaced all the seals in the bottom end, in less than 2days, for around 300.00$. Works great , no
more milk. Great service, great work, not a do it yourself job. Pay the price, and go fishin.Donn
Good luck.

horsehunter · **Joined:** Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:14 am **Posts:** 387

I would guess its the prop seal. When the motor is sitting out of the water can you see oil leaking from any where over a day or two ( maybe remove the prop and watch ) a little water in the oil is not a huge issue in warm weather the problem comes if there is enough water in there to freeze and crack the case in cold weather.

Dog Lake · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:51 pm

I'd second Frank's comment and bet on the prop seal. That's where most leaks occur and it's quite common, especially if you have picked up some fishing line around the prop. It gets wound around the shaft and takes out the prop seal.

FishinMagician · **Posted:** Tue Apr 14, 2015 7:29 am

You need to take those bolts out again top and bottom in pic #1 and take that housing off. There is a rubber o-ring in there. I bet you there is sand in there. Same thing happened to my motor. Once you get them bolts out tap the housing with a rubber malet. It will come off and the rubber malet won't damage the piece.

TheDL · **Joined:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:13 am **Posts:** 435

horsehunter wrote:

I would guess its the prop seal. When the motor is sitting out of the water can you see oil leaking from any where over a day or two ( maybe remove the prop and watch ) a little water in the oil is not a huge issue in warm weather the problem comes if there is enough water in there to freeze and crack the case in cold weather.

Definitely don't see any oil leaking from anywhere, it's been sitting with prop off for 2 days....with no oil in lower unit (that's not bad is it?). Definitely hasn't been cold enough to freeze water, I keep it in my semi-warm garage over winter.

So if it is the prop seal....how should I fix this?

Is there any kind of tests I can do to figure out exactly what seal it is? I'd hate to mess around changing seals that were good just to end up with water in the oil again.

TheDL · **Joined:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:13 am **Posts:** 435

FishinMagician wrote:

You need to take those bolts out again top and bottom in pic #1 and take that housing off. There is a rubber o-ring in there. I bet you there is sand in there. Same thing happened to my motor. Once you get them bolts out tap the housing with a rubber malet. It will come off and the rubber malet won't damage the piece.

Ok, I'll give that go...so once I take that section off, what am I looking for?

FishinMagician · **Posted:** Tue Apr 14, 2015 10:18 am

You'll see it buddy. There is a black o-ring in there. All I did was take the o-ring off and clean it with dawn dish soap and cleaned the housing that came off and cleaned the motor. My o-ring was in great shape so I reused it. Haven't had water in it since and it's been 3-4 years. When you clean the o-ring run it over your lips and if you feel any rough spots get rid of it and get a new one. And there is a seal around the prop shaft. It's more than likely held in with a snap ring. Take out the snap ring and change that seal too and put snap ring back in. You can access it from behind that housing that you're trying to take off. I don't take any of my motor to a dealer wayyy too much $$$ for basic work you can do yourself. If you need anymore help PM me.

TheDL · **Joined:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:13 am **Posts:** 435

thanks FishinMagician! I will take a crack at it tonite, might PM you later this eve

FishinMagician · **Posted:** Tue Apr 14, 2015 12:17 pm

TheDL wrote:

thanks FishinMagician! I will take a crack at it tonite, might PM you later this eve

No problem and good luck!

yankee clipper · **Joined:** Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:21 am **Posts:** 33

take off the lower unit and have it pressure checked at the repair shop. that way you will know which seal or seals need to be replaced. just make sure they pressure test and vacuum test, as some seals leak in a vacuum and not under pressure. that takes
the guess work out of it.

mblaney · **Posted:** Fri Apr 17, 2015 7:04 am

^
^
+1 Pressure and vacuum test for sure. If you don't have a pressure gauge you can do a quickie test by pressurizing it and submerse it - look for bubbles. With milk like that the leak should be very obvious. Make sure you don't over pressure it though!

Edit: Only submerse the lower unit while it's off the power head! :roll:

HOG · **Joined:** Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:09 pm **Posts:** 15

Could be the upper seal as well. If you remove the lower unit just change all the seals as they are relatively inexpensive, verses a lower unit. Just my 2 cents worth.

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Need advice on water in oil - evinrude 15HP

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