radryan1024
New member
I recently purchased a 15 foot fiberglass boat that was in really good condition with a trailer for $125. It had an Evinrude 55HP engine on the back without a lower unit or starter; the rest of the engine was there and seems to have solid compression. Fast forward to around a month ago: I found a Evinrude 55HP engine that had a crack on the exhaust housing. I got it for $100; of course I had to drive a few hours to pick it up.
Anyway, I tested the starter and it was in solid condition. I will more than likely need a new prop because this one is pretty knicked up, which I was not too concerned about. However, the lower unit itself seems to be locked up. It was kept empty for who knows how long, and I cannot seem to get it to shift gears or to get the drive shaft to rotate at all. I have tried various ways to get it to rotate. I have tried to rotate the prop to possibly pop it out of gear, as I read on other forums had suggested, but I am not having any luck getting it unstuck. I do not have the gear puller or a Johnson/Evinrude spline socket, so I cannot really take apart the lower unit to inspect it. I know the best case scenario would be to do that and rebuild it, but I am wondering if there are any tricks that you guys have to recommend to get it to rotate. I need any sort of hope I can get because I am fairly new to the whole boating thing. Small engines like mowers and etc. make perfect sense to me, so I wouldn't say I am a complete rookie at this, but I definitely could use some guidance.
Thanks in advance!
~Rad
Anyway, I tested the starter and it was in solid condition. I will more than likely need a new prop because this one is pretty knicked up, which I was not too concerned about. However, the lower unit itself seems to be locked up. It was kept empty for who knows how long, and I cannot seem to get it to shift gears or to get the drive shaft to rotate at all. I have tried various ways to get it to rotate. I have tried to rotate the prop to possibly pop it out of gear, as I read on other forums had suggested, but I am not having any luck getting it unstuck. I do not have the gear puller or a Johnson/Evinrude spline socket, so I cannot really take apart the lower unit to inspect it. I know the best case scenario would be to do that and rebuild it, but I am wondering if there are any tricks that you guys have to recommend to get it to rotate. I need any sort of hope I can get because I am fairly new to the whole boating thing. Small engines like mowers and etc. make perfect sense to me, so I wouldn't say I am a complete rookie at this, but I definitely could use some guidance.
Thanks in advance!
~Rad