OMC upper outdrive lost nut inside

" I accidentally removed the s

" I accidentally removed the screw from the left upper side of my 1990 OMC Cobra outdrive (4 cyl 135hp) and the nut that held screw on was not attached to the housing is now floating around in the upper (water cooling area) of the outdrive! I've been told my Cobra-smart mechanics that there are no moving parts in that area, but the hole needs to be blocked tightly otherwise the engine would over heat. Would I use a self tapping screw in it's place or do I have to take the outdrive off to get the nut and super glue it to the nut?

thanx
-Paul "

I have a 1992 Cobra outdrive a

I have a 1992 Cobra outdrive and did the same thing. Does anyone have an answer for this problem? I am trying to avoid pulling the entire stern drive off to fix this silly little screw.

"I used a 1" rubber plug I

"I used a 1" rubber plug I found at an autoparts store to plug that hole. The plug has brass nut and bolt system to "lock it in" I believe it is intended as a freeze plug replacement.

Some others have been able to fish the nut out of the water passages in the upper unit, others have removed the stern drive to get at the nut. I'm not to worried about using the method I did to plug the hole. I've run the boat since and it is cooling fine."

"Been there done that! You ca

"Been there done that! You can pull off the plastic thingy that sits behind the screw, fish out the nut with a piece of wire, clean & dry the nut & housing and glue it in place so you can keep it original---lotsa fun, I did it. Or you can use the expanding plug like the other guy posted. In either case you gotta remove the plastic piece, you don't wanna attach a plug to it because it'll easily fall out. Once the plastic thing's out it'll be easy to fish out the nut just so it's not floating around in there."

I bought a new nut used sealer

I bought a new nut used sealer on it to hold it in place then screwed the bolt back in they should not of even made that hole there