Is It Worth paying for? TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE WON YET AGAIN

[WISHBONE]

Ok so that motor I just picked up for that smoken price has just shot back in my face.

I purchased a 1967 Evinrude 18HP OB for a trade and $250 cash

My Engine was a 1994 Mariner 3.3 in pristine condition

I purchased a new prop for it as you all know for $60

Now when I went to the guys house, we ran them in a 33 gal trash can that I bought for obvious reasons. We took off the top case to the motor so I could take a look inside. It looked fairly clean, not crystal clean, you get the picture. The reason why I wanted to look inside was to feel the engine and see if it had been run before I came to his house. It was ice cold.

So we put the hood back on after he went over the parts on the motor. He pulls the rip cord once and on the second pull the engine fires right up and idles nice. We run the motor and rev it up a couple of times. We then put it in gear foward and reverse and it ran just fine. Of course all of this means nothing because the motor was not on the boat with a load on it.

So after getting it home and cleaning it, I then proceeded to take off the lower gear housing to change the impeller and fill with new gear oil. When I opened the drain and fill screws the first thing that came out was clear water, not White water which tells me it has been sitting for a while and this water was from us running the motor.

Then the gear oil comes out which had some tiny chunks of old blackish gear oil, hmm, but the gear oil was pretty clean, not reeal dirty like it had been used much at all. So when I dropped the lower gear housing I noticed right away that I had a problem. There was rust on some of the parts which tells me water was sitting in there for a while.

After disassembling the gears from the shaft, the brass bushings and shaft have grooves in them. In a normal motor such as a car or truck or SUV this would be toast. But then yet these are marine engines which take a lot of stress and high RPM'S all day long. So I do not know if these grooves are normal wear and tear or are they shot.

After calling around and getting prices, some of the two main components are OBSOLETE which Evinrude does not make or sell anymore. After making a couple phone calls I located these two main parts. The actual gear housing which holds a brass bushing in it that is not servicable, and the other part is the propeller shaft.

Adding up all of the parts for this lower gear housing assembly it is going to cost me $630 to my door step.

So what do you guy's think I should do? Help

 

[Queencitybassman]

you should have sold the newer 3.3 mariner and put it towards buying a not so old motor.. that price sounds ridiculous.. I found a 50hp mercury 2000 for $600.. so I dont think you burn money into it.. just sell it for parts and cut your losses or get your motor back

 

[Dave11]

Just save your money and buy a motor made in the last decade. I wouldnt put any money into a 1967 motor.

 

[Nevillizer]

you should have sold the newer 3.3 mariner and put it towards buying a not so old motor.. that price sounds ridiculous.. I found a 50hp mercury 2000 for $600.. so I dont think you burn money into it.. just sell it for parts and cut your losses or get your motor back

Ditto, try and get your money out of it and move on to the next good deal. Keep hunting and you'll find one.

 

[perchin]

This is very unfortunate.... have you contacted the guy you got it from? Maybe he is willing to reverse the trade? If not just move on to the next good one. I think it will be hard to recoupe your loss on this one though. Good luck sir :wink:

 

[WISHBONE]

You guys are great and I appreciate the help. Phoenix has a really tough market when it comes to Marine stuff. EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE compared to the midwest and over to the east coast. So for here it is a great deal where for you it may be the worst deal on the planet.

Doing more research and speaking too some mechanics as well.

 

[bassboy1]

Go to the aomci.org free classifieds section, and post a wanted ad for a gearcase for that motor. Just might find someone who has one. A couple weeks back, I had 2 people with gearcases for my 1975 40, after mine found a rock.

 

[BaitCaster]

Cut your losses. Sell it for parts.

 

[dyeguy1212]

How long ago was the trade? I'd go back and tell the guy you want to trade back. He knew the thing was messed up.

 

[WISHBONE]

Ok update:

I spoke to a couple of mechanics right here in town that build / own and know these older motors. Not only do they have parts redialy available for me. They all say the wear on the parts are NORMAL and nothing wrong with them. I am going to get the new seals and gaskets as well as some of the smaller bushings and stuff for it to make sure it is water tight and sealed.

So it looks like things are looking much better. These mechanics buy sell and trade these motors all day long and say my motor is rock solid.

It looks like the only real expensive part I could replace if I want to is the prop shaft which are not being made and I have been getting quates for $100 for. But this guy Travis has a couple and is charging me like $50 at most and said it should last for the lifetime that I would use it for.

So I may only be putting in $200 max at best. I feel much better and will update with the new parts and running condition.

 

[Nevillizer]

Way to dodge that bullet. Got lucky. You don't by chance any suggestions for the lotto numbers this weekend do ya?

 

[BaitCaster]

Good news. I have a 1958 Evinrude, that is currently in for a tune up. There is a broken bracket that my mechanic has been looking for, and finally found. this week In my case he had a hard time finding the part, but he got one eventually. However, he did tell me that OMC (i.e., Evinrude/Johnson) have a huge warehouse full of parts for old motors. Also, the parts from Evinrude and Johnson motors from the 50's, 60's and 70's are often interchangeable. Good luck getting it out on the water!

 

[WISHBONE]

Thanks, I found two distributers that carrie almost every part except for a couple of those big ticket items that I discused the housing units and shafts because after they were not making parts for them anymore people were buying up the left over parts. So I should get this engine up and running here by the middle of next week in pristine shape ready to tackle the waters of Arizona.

 

[Brine]

Good News WB =D>

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

The reason why I wanted to look inside was to feel the engine and see if it had been run before I came to his house. It was ice cold.

very smart, dont hear of alot of people doing that. always my first step when looking at buying anything w/ a motor

when i replaced the propshaft seal on my old johnson that brass bushing and output shaft had some nice grooves in it. I was alittle worried but threw the seal in it anway. never gave me a problem nor had any water intrusion.

good thing about them old motors is they were made with good steel, not the junk we get today. I wouldnt let the rust worry me. run it awile and change the gear dope to help get the surface rust out of there

 

[Whoopbass]

I ran my 1980 25hp Johnson for 10-15 years with a leaky lower unit. I just changed the oil a few times a year. I was going to sell the motor so I bought a LU seal kit and was able to fix it rather easily. The gears still looked new when I tore it apart.
When you run the motor everything mixes and there appears to be adequate lubrication since I ran my motor for so long without any issues.
My current 25hp Evinrude has a leaky LU. I'm still using it but I need to get off my duff and fix it.

I wouldn't dump too much money into that old bird. They are good reliable motors and pretty easy to work on so if I were you I would learn to repair that motor yourself. You can always find parts on ebay if your patient.

 

[WISHBONE]

Great news, thats exactly what the mechanics told me, it is normal and does not take away from the performance of the motor or driving gears. Put in new seals to keep it sealed and you are good to go. So thats what I am going to do.

 

[Quackrstackr]

You can put a set of seals in mine while you're at it.

It's been leaking for several years now but I just keep changing the oil and running the hell out of it. :lol: If it broke down on the next trip out, I've gotten more than my money's worth of use out of it.

 

[WTL]

If anybody has ever read Max's columns over on duckworks about old outboards, he pretty much says that sometimes if you have a lower seal leaking just a bit you might be better off just changing the oil a few times a year instead of going through the trouble to do it right. Normally doing it right is a good thing, but there are some exceptions when cost is important.

 

[Pappy]

There are thousands of these engines out there. The gearcases, powerheads, and midsections are common to many years and horsepower engines. The prices of used parts are dirt cheap compared to prices of new parts for newer engines. Glad you have found someone reliable to help you through this. As Bassboy mentioned earlier...........go to AOMCI and get rock solid advice on the oder engines anytime you want to. They (we) are knowledgeable and helpful to all with older outboards.