# Self Servicing Nissan Outboard. HELP!



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

Since I'm not doing any fishing this weekend due to the crazy winds we have down here, and I won't have my new prop in until Tuesday.
I have decided to attempt to do the service on my outboard.
I went to the local Tohatsu dealer and picked up the Tohatsu outboard oil, gear case lube, oil filter, and spark plugs. 

I have changed the plugs several times before, so that's cake.
I have watched someone change the oil on it once, so it shouldn't be too hard.
But I have never seen or done an oil change on the lower unit.
Is it hard? 
I plan on doing this in a few minutes, so I hope someone chimes in soon before I mess something up. lol

I'm trying to get my skiff ready for the Flamingo to Islamorada run next month, so I want to be sure it's fully up to par. 

Thanks,

-Eric


----------



## Taterides (Nov 10, 2008)

Put bucket under motor.
Remove lower gear case plug.
Remove upper and it will drain.
Once empty thread hose into lower.
Pump until comes out of the top. 
Replace upper plug.
Remove hose and replace lower plug.
Some feel you should replace plug oring / gasket every time. Cheap insurance.
Looks for signs of water in old lube.
Done.


----------



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> Put bucket under motor.
> Remove lower gear case plug.
> Remove upper and it will drain.
> Once empty thread hose into lower.
> ...


Thanks!

By pump and hose, does that mean I need to buy something? lol
The bottle has a tip on it.
And I remember seeing on the owners manual for the outboard that it showed them using a bottle.

As for the o-ring, it's a brand new outboard, so I hope the o ring hasn't gone bad.

Thanks!

-Eric


----------



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

This is what I bought.


----------



## out-cast (Jan 27, 2009)

Something like this Eric. You open the bottle of gear lube and insert this hand pump. EZPZ!!
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_11151_10001_101906_-1?cid=chanintel_google&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=101906


----------



## Swamp (Jul 12, 2010)

Wear latex/nitrile gloves, it took me a week to get the stink of the gear lube off of my hands the first time I changed it. I may just be overly sensitive to the smell, but it drove me nuts.

Swamp


----------



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> Wear latex/nitrile gloves, it took me a week to get the stink of the gear lube off of my hands the first time I changed it.  I may just be overly sensitive to the smell, but it drove me nuts.
> 
> Swamp



lol
If you are, then I may be too.
I hate that the funk of largemouth bass doesn't come off my hands for a few days no matter what I use to wash them. lol.
Everyone tells me I'm crazy, but no.
It stays for days. lol
I've tried gasoline, lacquer thinner, dish washing liquid, hand soap solid, hand soap liquid form, hydrogen peroxide, mouth wash, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, baking soda, and the only thing that seems to do the trick is hand lotion.
And it doesn't remove it, it just covers it up. lol


----------



## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

> > Put bucket under motor.
> > Remove lower gear case plug.
> > Remove upper and it will drain.
> > Once empty thread hose into lower.
> ...


Eric, BUY A NEW O-RING for the drain and vent screws! They've been compressed once already, and that's a known cause of leaks; I've personally had an issue with them on one motor years ago. They are about $.65 so there's no reason to take the risk. 

-T


----------



## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

another how-to for lower units

http://www.nitroowners.com/projects/lowerunit/lowerunitproject.htm


----------



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> > > Put bucket under motor.
> > > Remove lower gear case plug.
> > > Remove upper and it will drain.
> > > Once empty thread hose into lower.
> ...



Now the question is where can I get them today? if not, I have to wait till next weekend. 
And I was hoping on fishing next weekend since I'm not fishing this weekend.  



edit:
Found them locally, but I need to hurry cause they close in half an hour. lol


----------



## Swamp (Jul 12, 2010)

Try some of the activated carbon scent removers that hunters use. Make sure it has carbon in it.


----------



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I just got done.
It was a bit annoying, because I had to run back and forth from auto parts to auto parts.

I started off with the lower unit.
As I had a feeling, the pump they gave me was not the correct fit.
So I rigged the tip that came on the bottle of gear lube to the pump.








I emptied the oil in the lower unit as suggested by you guys.(seen in bucket pictured above.)
I did buy the seals for the drain and vent plugs but they also appeared to be incorrect. 

Here is the seal.
The blue one is the new one, the black ones are the old ones.








I'm probably going to have to redo it because I just put on the old ones because the blue one got messed up as soon as I began tightening the plug.










The oil change was cake.
Except, I forgot that I didn't have the proper oil filter wrench that I needed.
So off to Autozone to pick one up.
I got back and drained the oil as I began to remove the spark plugs.
I got one off and as I went to put the new one, I realized they gave me the wrong spark plug over at the Tohatsu dealer.
I completed the oil change.

So off I went to Advance Auto Parts.
They were EXTREMELY packed, so I went across the street back to Autozone.
Autozone didn't have any in stock, I would have had to drive all the way across town to the only one who had them in stock.

So, I went to another auto parts down the road.
They also didn't have any in stock.
So I went BACK to Advance Auto Parts and waited through the long lines and finally got what I needed.

I came back home, swapped out the plugs and got everything back where it belonged.
Put the muffs on and ran it.
Idled great.
Got rid of a tiny little misfire it seemed to have whenever I would just open the throttle all the way from idle. (mechanic told me to do so when he was showing me the problems it had in the past.)

Seemed to be running good.

Now, I have to see if I can send someone over to the Tohatsu dealer to get more lower unit oil and the proper seals and see if I re-do that before next weekend.
For it's really bothering me.

Here are the plugs that were on there previously.









The Tohatsu mechanic had told me that the plugs would continue to foul up until I changed the prop to a 10 pitch.
The new prop will be here Tuesday (according to Precision Propeller), so I hope to be ready by the weekend.


----------



## skinnywater3 (Feb 8, 2009)

how many hours do you have on the motor?


----------



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> how many hours do you have on the motor?



I'd say close to 50.....  

And that's that when I had estimated around 20, it infact had 37 hours when the mechanic hooked up his computer to it.


The problem I had with the motor was random.
Fuel pressure regulator went bad, and caused one of the spark plug coils to go bad.
It took two months to diagnose what the problem was because the only local Tohatsu mechanic was always out of the country taking care of Tohatsu's in "Latin America".
Because he's the Tohatsu mechanic for south Florida and "Latin America."

The local Tohatsu dealer had me running around from mechanic to mechanic while he was out of town.
When he finally checked it out, he found the problems rather quickly.

He got in contact with Tohatsu and warranty covered the issues and they fixed the outboard.
But he told me to service it again once I changed the propeller. 
Because the prop it had on there (12 pitch) was way wrong.
And it would only spin 5250 RPMs.
It hits the limiter at 6300 RPMs per his manual.

So he said that the motor wants to give more power, but the prop wasn't doing any more.
So what the motor would do is send a signal that it needs more gas.
So it was getting a lot of gas, but not producing anymore power.

He said I was getting less than 25hp out of the motor with the 12 pitch.

So I ordered the correct pitch prop in stainless weeks ago.
But when I tried to put it on, it didn't fit.
I got in contact with the manufacturer and they sent me out a replacement.
It should be here Tuesday.


----------



## Bissell (Feb 27, 2010)

> > Wear latex/nitrile gloves, it took me a week to get the stink of the gear lube off of my hands the first time I changed it.  I may just be overly sensitive to the smell, but it drove me nuts.
> >
> > Swamp
> 
> ...


Toothpaste.


----------



## Un-shore (Sep 27, 2007)

...I love lg bass funk :'(

not more than snook, I really love that stuff. 

I'm now starting to like alligator funk.  that really has to grow on you specially the males.

Gear oil? Ah yes days gone by, the smell of summer breeze, brides maids perfume, beer and gear oil... :-*

Long story.

Anyway, def. change those screw gaskets out. You would not believe how much water gets by a bad one. Lots of pressure change down there with exhaust and gear heat and cool water.


----------



## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

_" brides maids perfume, beer and gear oil"_


Sounds like a "country" Song LOL


----------



## Swamp (Jul 12, 2010)

> I'm now starting to like alligator funk.  that really has to grow on you specially the males.


Oh yes, a ol' big bull gator has a real special smell to him. I can smell it when a bull has moved into my backyard from 200 yd away.

Swamp


----------



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I already swapped out those seals.


----------



## MATT (Apr 30, 2007)

I have a Key lime tree I just pick a few leafs and grind them up in my hands and all is good....


----------



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

As a one time charter mate and commercial fisherman (nothing like cutting two or three hundred pounds of fish at a time...) the trick with the Key Lime probably works okay. What I always used was the regular old Persian limes that you can buy in any grocery store. Cut a fresh one and squeeze the juice into your hands while washing them back and forth (no water, just fresh lime juice) for a minute or two. Then rinse off with freshwater and you're good to go. 

Friends of mine would first wash their hands in straight bleach (to kill staph and other infections), then the limes... This routine works pretty well but your hands will end up looking like Rick Murphy's....


----------



## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

If you don't mind smelling like salad dressing, try wiping
your hands with vinegar after washing thoroughly.
Effective on quite a few types of odors.


----------



## HighSide25 (May 15, 2007)

bleach, lime, or lemons will get rid of the scent in a minute


----------



## levip (Dec 4, 2010)

half a lemon gets almost any funk off your hands including gear oil and fish funk


----------

