93 force 70 Hp water leak issue

Hello, first time poster here. Here is the issue:

While prepping the engine( plugs, carb cleaning, fresh gas)for this summer, I started the engine on earmuff water supply. Engine started on first turn of the key...no problems.

Tale tell had steady stream, then I notice water coming out of the driveshaft case where the engine is connected to the transom. I check around the powerhead, no leaks visible from above.

I have never seen this before, on any outboard. My thought is there must be a leak in the water connection somewhere between the waterpump and the engine, and it is filling the driveshaft case.

How does the water get from the lower unit to the top? Hosing or tube?

How does one get into the area to inspect and repair?

Thanks for your advice


Regards

Sam

Profile,location? Salt water?
Possibly???
The water tube where it connects to the base of the engine, a rubber gromet gone bad.(powerhead removal)
Or the base where the powerhead sits is corroded through.(again powerhead removal)
There is a seal in the mid section that keeps water in/out that could be bad.(again PH removal)
You change the impeller?
As long as it's not overheating(how much waters leaking) I wouldn't mess with it.

Thanks for the reply, and the reminder to fill in some of the the profile info.

The boat is a '93 model bayliner , same for the engine
The boat has been lightly used over the years, and stored in a garage out of season and in a boat house w/ lift in season. Everything appearance wise looks good, paint is good, no corrosion visible

Impeller has not been changed this year.

I would say that the amount of water leaking is significant, and when I first started the engine, I had the water flow from the garden hose to the lower unit adapter to hi. On a second teat I reduced the flow to see how that would affect the water leaking. I still had the telltale, but with a weaker stream and after a few minutes the hi temp buzzer came on, so I shut down and started looking for a help forum such as this.

Thanks

Sam