Went ahead and changed out the oil in my lower unit yesterday and there was more water in there than I was comfortable with. The fluid itself did look milky as well. I know this means that I have a bad seal somewhere in the lower unit so what I am wondering is can I change out all the seals myself. I am very mechanically inclinded and I used to work on cars for a living so I am pretty sure I can handle it but I have never worked on an outboard or lower unit before. I have watched a few videos on youtube and read some post and it seems to be pretty straight forward. Looks like I can get a complete seal kit for under $100 so it would definitley save me money to do it myself. Guess I'm just wanting to make sure I'm not getting in over my head.
For those of you who have messed with your lower unit before what do you think? Is it fairly simple for someone who is mechanically inclined? Anything I need to be especially cautious of? Anything I should do as well since I have the lower unit off? (I am doing the water pump too of course). Anything special about a Johnson Outboard I need to be aware of?
One last thing I don't have a garage so I had planned on working on the lower unit in my basement. While it is off is it ok for my motor to just be sitting out in the drive with no lower unit on it? (It will probably take me a few days to go through the lower unit, I'm pretty busy so time is limited). Thought about maybe wrapping the motor in a tarp or something while my lower unit is off.
Thanks for any guidance.
Jake
p.s. I did refill the lower unit with oil and I was considering going to the lake on sunday for one last run before I got into this project. Is that just dumb or do you guys think it will be ok? Probably better safe than sorry but I am hoping some of you guys with more experience can guide me here.
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