Think I just learned an expensive lesson

The other night I forgot to remove the transom saver and trim down the motor on my bass boat with a 60hp Merc.

On Sunday the weather did a 180 and turned bitter cold. Froze my lower unit solid, prop was stuck and it wouldn't shift.

Had a heat lamp on it all day yesterday, got it thawed out. Ran it on the muffs today, everything seemed normal, water pump was working fine. I pulled the lower drain plug and a quart of milky water gushed out. Also had gear oil coming out of the water drains. :|

Guess I'll get it apart this week rig up a pressure tester, maybe I'll get lucky and only a seal got pushed out.

Not sure if there was leak before that filled the LU with water, or if this is a new issue. I did change the oil shortly after I got the boat (few months ago), the oil was a tiny bit milky, but not bad at all considering how long it had been sitting.

I look at it from the other perspective, as maybe there was already a faulty seal in that LU where now that you believe it needs to be replaced ... perhaps you saved yourself from a future expen$ive repair or all out replacement?

Don’t feel rained on brother, I’ve done some dumbass stuff that cost me over the years. Something tells me I’m not done yet either!


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Hmm. My 25hp is still in a barrel of water. Can't decide if it's better to leave it or drain it. Tonight will get down to 23 but the water won't freeze at least not this early in the year. Wonder if an empty barrel under a motor would stay warmer. Maybe wrap it in black and tape the top to keep out water ?

water bouy said:

Hmm. My 25hp is still in a barrel of water. Can't decide if it's better to leave it or drain it. Tonight will get down to 23 but the water won't freeze at least not this early in the year. Wonder if an empty barrel under a motor would stay warmer. Maybe wrap it in black and tape the top to keep out water ?

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Usually they drain fully when trimmed down. I had the issue because my trailer is fairly low, and with the motor resting on the transom saver, it is trimmed up pretty high, 30 degrees or so. If I don't remove the transom saver and lower it, it won't drain all the way.

Oddly enough, if I don't raise the 25 Johnson on my little boat for a couple minutes, it will not drain all the way.

Took the lower off today and found a substantial leak from the shift shaft seal. Maybe I'll get lucky and that is the only problem.

This made me think how to keep a motor warm and black waterproof canvas looked good so I bought a big piece off amazon. I figure if it's wrapped tight around the motor it'll keep the wind off and the sun may heat it up.