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Can I remove drive shaft housing without pulling powerhead

S

sgrant

New member
Hello, 1983 mercury 4 cyl, 80hp. motor won't spit water after confirming water path is unblocked from pump to exit orifice. I dropped the lower unit and verified the impeller was good (replaced anyway). I connected a hose directly to the water tube and water immediately started gushing out the bottom of the driveshaft housing and nothing coming from the tell tale hole. I increased the hose flow and it finally filled up the system and started spitting out the hole but with most water still gushing out the housing. I understand this indicates bad seal(s) in the area around the water pipe and block. I purchased the entire 500+ page factory manual and can't even find the words "drive shaft housing" any where in it and I don't have time to read all 500 pages. The motor is mounted on the boat transom now. Is it possible to drop the drive shaft housing without pulling the power head and if so what hidden items have to be disconnected inside the cowling in order to drop it. Thanks for the help.
 
So far, all you have proven is that water is flowing through the block and the tell tale is plugged. Take the hose off where it comes out of the block and see if it is plugged there.
 
I took off the hose and blew it out before i did anything. Also ran a wire about 2 inches inside the block at the hose fitting. The tell tale was squirting a steady stream once i turned up the hose pressure enough to overcome the leak. I noticed there's a ring of water around the bottom of the rubber seal where the water tube goes into the powerhead. I need better access to make sure that's what's leaking. I just need to know if there's a way to drop the drive shaft housing without pulling the power head. Thanks
 
sgrant said:
I took off the hose and blew it out before i did anything. Also ran a wire about 2 inches inside the block at the hose fitting. The tell tale was squirting a steady stream once i turned up the hose pressure enough to overcome the leak. I noticed there's a ring of water around the bottom of the rubber seal where the water tube goes into the powerhead. I need better access to make sure that's what's leaking. I just need to know if there's a way to drop the drive shaft housing without pulling the power head. Thanks
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Did you ever get an answer to this query? I'm in a similar situation...looks like 6 bolts and it drops out, BUT it also looks like the power head rides the housing rather than the housing hanging from the head, so there will be a support issue....long answer, looks like lowering the hous=ing iS removing the powerhead, more or less. Guessing that means that i need to find a hoist (or a mechanic). l;et me know what you found.
 
The water going up into the motor comes pouring out to return to the lake.----So this water pouring out might be normal.
 
racerone said:
The water going up into the motor comes pouring out to return to the lake.----So this water pouring out might be normal.
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Can someone please answer the titled question? That is, "is it possible to remove the drive-shaft housing without removing the powerhead while the on the boat's transome". It may sound like a difference without a significance, since the powerhead is disconnected either way, but it comes down to whether the housing can be removed and have the powerhead still hanging on the transom mount, rather than dangling from a hoist (that I, and I think the OP, don't have). The OP wanted to do this to check his seals (water leaking from where it ought not); I want to do this to remove/replace the shift-shaft coupler (which stripped to hell), neither of which can be accomplished with the driveshaft housing in the way.

So, if I was to prop-up the weight of the powerhead, could I remove the shaft housing by removing the 8 nuts, do my work, and then bolt it back to gether (with a new gasket)? That is, is there anything holding the power head up other than the driveshaft housing?

If not, I'll rig a hoist using two ladders, a beam, and a pulley.
 
Powerhead MUST be removed !-----Likely the easiest way to do this job as well.-----The powerhead is not that heavy either.
 
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