# Lower Unit Oil Color & Salt Deposit Questions



## Jpscott1 (May 2, 2017)

That lower unit oil sample on the screwdriver looks ok to me. When I have had water in the lower unit it looked like melted chocolate/vanilla ice cream and was very thin. 
When you drained it- did you see any water? - as I guess the water could have separated from the oil while sitting for 2 years. I am no pro mechanic- but I would just put new oil in the lower unit and move on. I can't offer any advice on your salt deposits. Good luck.


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## TailHunter (Sep 28, 2017)

Thanks for the reply, reassuring to know it may not be as bad as I was expecting! I did not notice any water draining, however I will try to confirm that once I fully drain the lower unit and let it sit over night.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

To change the lower unit oil. There are 2 screws 1 high and 1 low. You have to take both out to drain. To refill keep both screws out. Insert new oil into the lower hole and squeeze till it comes out the top hole. When it does put the screw in the top so it won't run out. Then take the lower oil nozzle out of the bottom and put the lower screw in. Of course I am sure you know this
Now for your cylinder head. It should not be corroded unless water got in
Are you sure it's the cylinder or is it the water jacket


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

good color 
milky / grey means water intrusion.
you have to remove all those deposits by hand.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Change the lower unit oil for good measure and you will need to check water jacket gaskets and head gaskets for signs of water getting through. I'd just change all exhaust, water and head gaskets and be done. Clean the head out with hydrochloric acid and a small brass brush. Starbrite makes a hydrochloric acid in a spray bottle called "Hull Bottom Cleaner". It will eat the deposits but don't let it sit too long, especially on painted surfaces. Wear chemical gloves and safety glasses. Have your water hose with a spray nozzle on it handy so you can rinse the acid off before it eats any paint it may get on. You may as well clean out all water passages while you're at it.


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Excuse the following derail:

Johnny was a Chemist's son
But Johnny is no more
What Johnny thought was H2O
Was H2SO4


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

yobata said:


> Excuse the following derail:
> 
> Johnny was a Chemist's son
> But Johnny is no more
> ...


It burns my nose


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Man I am scared to take my 140 Suzuki 4 stroke apart. I'd love to get in there to see what's going on but I'd probably end up with extra parts if I tried that


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## TailHunter (Sep 28, 2017)

Thanks for all the responses! It seems like the consensus is that I'll need to be opening up, soaking and manually descaling. Here's a picture of the salty goodness sitting behind the thermostat.








Replaced the impeller, cartridge outer plate, both gaskets and thermostat/gasket today.

The engine ran, had good tell tale output but it would only run for about 30 seconds - 1 min then the RPM's would start dropping until stall. Did this several times and until the engine would no longer turn over. It is possible the plugs got some water splashed on them, ran the first stall without the cowling. I repeated this process 3 times and on the last stall I manually turned off the engine once I noticed the water overflowing on the lower unit. I let the water drain and couldn't get her to turn over.

As mentioned, water was overflowing from the rear of the lower unit where the speedo sender and gear selector are located. Pictured below. It could be possible I may have not lined up the lower unit correctly although I was fairly careful in lining everything up. Is there another problem I'm overlooking?









Thanks in advance for the advice!


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