Mercury Lower Unit Winter Temperature Failure

I took my 1994 Mercury Xr6 out fishing this past weekend and I mistakenly left it outside of my house. I decided I wasn't going to winterize it because I was planing to take a trip down to Texas next week for a final week of fishing. This is the first outboard I've ever owned and I didn't realize that the water inside the lower unit wouldn't drain out completely unless you trimmed the engine all the way down. This water froze and resulted in a crack somewhere in my lower unit. So I have a few questions for the forum members here!


Is this an easy repair?

How much am I looking at to get this fixed?

Is there anybody in the Dallas area that can repair this damage at a reasonable price?



Thanks!

How do you know its cracked???? Is there water in oil?

faztbullet said:

How do you know its cracked???? Is there water in oil?

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I just assumed it was cracked because of the oil leaking out of the water pickup tube and because of the oil at the top of the water pump!

Put a complete OEM pump in, upper and lower, drain the unit completely and pressure test it.

The Gear oil looks Like Quick Silver Or Mercury High Performance Gear Oil. If so it's correct.

I made myself a pressure tester and the only place I can see/hear any air leaking from is the water pump/below it.

I noticed that the bottom gasket from the bottom half of the water pump was warped and ripped a little bit when I removed it.

I'm thinking about making a new lower gasket out of RTV to see if that fixes the problem of the lower unit not pressurizing.

I just recently (2 months) replaced this water pump (upper and lower) and I still have my old one laying around so I'm going to give that one a shot, along with the silicone!

Otherwise, I'm going to go ahead and suck it up and order a new water pump (upper and lower).

kimcrwbr1 said:

What kind of oil is that it looks pretty thick for a outboard.

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I'm guessing it's the OEM oil. It looks thick because it was below freezing temperatures when I took the picture!

kimcrwbr1 said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Outdrive-Lo..._Accessories_Gear&hash=item418991fd09&vxp=mtr
Thinking about getting one of these myself

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$100 OUCH

I made mine from the oil pump they sell at Walmart + a bicycle pump, and an old valvestem! However, the oil pump is made out of plastic and is pretty dang fragile!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0KFoeIEcRs

Is the water pump housing the only thing that is supposed to hold pressure from the gear case? I was wondering if there was anything below the actual lower water pump housing that is supposed to keep everything sealed/hold the oil pressure?

The lower water pump housing does all the sealing for the input shaft. The complete pump has to be installed, the upper water pump housing holds the lower in place.

Compare the lower water pump housings as there are different O.D's, you could have a smaller one and oil leaking around o-ring.

faztbullet said:

Compare the lower water pump housings as there are different O.D's, you could have a smaller one and oil leaking around o-ring.

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Will do! The engine is a 1994 Xr6 20" shaft.

After receiving confirmation from Docksidemarineservices about the oil pump holding the pressure I'm going to try and install my old one with a new lower RTV silicone gasket. If this doesn't work I'll go ahead and bite the bullet and place an order for a new upper and lower water pump.


Is there a specific one I should order i.e. how do I find out which is the correct O.D. ? Thanks!