Crack in housing of lower unit on Yamaha 115 1994

I have noticed a crack slowly

I have noticed a crack slowly forming from the lip of the lower unit housing next the the prop ... it appears to be from corrison within the housing itself ... I am not real mechanically inclined but would enjoy repairing it myself. Is this something I need to take to a qualified mechanic or can I tackle it myself? How would you recommend I research? Where should go to buy parts? thanks

" Rocky,

That needs to be w

" Rocky,

That needs to be welded in a proper machine shop. There are quite a few shops that could do this. I noticed in the latest catalogue that Precision Marine specifically mentioned repairing Yamaha lower units with this problem.

Tony "

" Rocky and Tony, Is it salt

" Rocky and Tony, Is it salt build up that is causing the lower unit "bullet" to expand and crack? Here in the east, the saltwater does bad stuff like crush the water tube where it goes through the exhaust housing, and crack the lower T&T mounts from salt build up. "

" Cris,

Salt and electrolys

" Cris,

Salt and electrolysis are usually the culprits. Most engines have anodes around the bearing carrier in the lower unit to help deal with this problem. Extra anodes around the transom brackets and tilt/trim components can't hurt anything.

I have noticed that Yamahas, Hondas, etc. can have serious electrolysis problems. I am in Long Island Sound, New York, and have seen some of these engines with holes right through the lower unit casing. This doesn't occurr with all of them, but for some reason a few do seem to simply dissolve in the saltwater environment. My guess is poor quality control, which means inconsistent alloys.

Tony "

I just replaced my 115s lower

I just replaced my 115s lower unit ($700). Ir was salt that made the same crack you describe. The owner befor me didn't flush the motor throughly.