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2001 BF90 shift rod seal help

M

morey_b

New member
I have a small leak in the lower unit from the shift rod. I have the seal and want to change it out but unsure how to get at the old seal. I have e manual for my outboard but it shows a different design than what I have.

attached is a pic of my outboard. How does one get the seal out? Does it come straight out of the round black housing or does the black round housing need to be removed and seal replaced from below?

thanks

F36E9EF7-75D4-4FD7-82ED-85346438D6EC.jpeg
 
The larger black part containing the seal (seal carrier?) needs to be removed. Note there's an O-ring on that to seal it to the case. Good plan to order one of those with the shift shaft seal.

You can also see that the pump will need to be removed, so all the gaskets associated with that should be on hand for this as well. And if you're removing the pump, you might just as well replace the impeller at minimum....

Getting that seal "carrier" out generally requires some patience in my experience. It's plastic so care must be taken while removing.
 
Thanks for the reply. I looked up that “shift rod holder” and ordered one to have in case I damage the existing one. But when looking closer at the part it appears the seal is pressed in from the top side?? Here are images from boat.net of both upper and lower side. It appears a seal puller may be able to get the seal out with everything in place. Am I missing something?

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Well, I have never done one of these but my guess is that.if you try pulling the seal it will either pull that holder up too or at least distort the holder enough to break it's seal with the housing.
I think taking what I would call a shortcut here might lead to water in your gearcase.
Also, you should note that there are two shift shaft seals and, since it's only $3, I recommend replacing the shift shaft spring while you're in there.
Good luck.
 
I believe it’s just the one seal on the shift rod according to the parts diagram. The drive shaft has 2 seals. I’ve read of people having a hard time with getting the shift rod into position when opening things up and trying to reinstall, so if I can avoid that headache I’d like to. The holder is held in place by a bolt on one side and the water pump housing on the other side so I don’t see it pulling up out of position. Warping may be a concern however. 🤷🏼‍♂️
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This is the later design. The one you need to be careful with is '99 and older. Those can be a pain in the butt if you let that rod come up as you remove the seal. Not impossible, just a pain in the butt.....
 
Yes, only one seal....I was looking at a later model..... apologies.
A tricky little chore indeed.
Good luck.
 
morey_b said:
Thanks for the replies, I'm going to tackle it in the next few days and see what happens.
Click to expand...
2 hard parts-
1. getting started on it ;)
2. getting that stupid "holder" up - especially on older salt water motors that haven't been apart in a while....
 
The seal is so small I wasn’t able to get it out from above. I ended up attempting the pry the shift rod holder up but was unsuccessful so drilled two drywall screws into it and pulled it out that way. The spring, washer and clip on the shaft were rusted away so I replaced with parts sourced at Ace hardware and ordered a new shift rod holder. Got it back together and no leaks now.

New problem I’m facing is a sheared bolt that holds the water jacket cover to the block. Took out 10 but 1 had to break!!! Oh the joys of boating!
 
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