1965 Johnson 40 hp gear lube leaking out of exhaust.

I have fixed many different problems with my Johnson so far. Thanks to everyone on this site. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys. Thanks. I took my boat out today and drove for about an hour. It drove great and didn't die once. I noticed grey looking foam grease coming out of the exhaust. I am assuming its the seal on the lower unit but I am not sure. Does anyone know what this could be? If it is the seal. Does anyone know how difficult it is to change or how to change it? Thanks so much!

kimcrwbr1 said:

If it smells like fuel that is normal.If it smells like gear oil you will need to pull the gearbox and reseal it. Get A seal kit and water pump impeller. Coming out the exhaust is usually the shift shaft seal and probably driveshaft seal. Drain the gearbox and see if water comes out.

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X2 the shift shaft seal is not difficult to change depending on what motor you have, the drive shaft seal/seals you may want to have someone remove and install the new ones depending on how handy you are, there should be a special tool that omc makes to remove and another tool to install the new ones but i dont know what motor you have. instead of the tool when i did mine i used a round wooden dowel that i sanded so it fit snug in the shaft to drive the new seals in and a 3 jaw puller that i modified to fit between the seals to pull the old ones out(seals were round and had a metal jacket around them)..

A week ago Mr Moore posted about an electric shift motor so there would be no shift rod seal.-----That leakage out the exhaust is quite normal.--------As always the lower unit can be pressure tested to see if there are any leaks.---------Outboard motor repair is very simple and testing is what is done not guessing !!