remove power head 1995 Johnson. 88spl

[Henry0Hornet]

Steering arm is badly corroded. Working on removing it to rebuild it.

Started tearing her apart. Motor is still on transom. I think I have removed all fasteners between the power head and the housing immediately below it. However, while the front of the power head will lift 1/8th", I cannot get the rear of the power head to separate from the exhaust adapter.

Is there a hidden fastener? It would have to be in the thermostat housing or something like that.

So far I have removed:

The exhaust housing rear cover.
Exhaust housing front cover.

6 (3 each side) of long bolts running up from exhaust housing, through exhaust housing adapter, into bottom of power head (#16 on https://www.marineengine.com/parts/j...ion=Midsection)

2 (1 each side) of short bolts going up into front of power head near the steering arm (#31 on marineengine.com drawing).
2 (2 each side) of nuts going up onto studs (pointing down) in front of previously listed bolts - very near steering arm. (#34 on marineengine.com drawing).

2 nuts at rear nestled tightly (annoyingly tightly) up under the back of the power head

4 of bolts going through brackets on power head down into lower engine cover (#10 in https://www.marineengine.com/parts/j...r+Engine+Cover).

I can pry up on the brackets that extend off of the power head, between the power head and lower engine cover and easily open up about 1/8th" gap at the front of the power head. I have tried prying between the top of the thermostat housing and the bottom of the exhaust manifold/cover to no avail. I am reluctant to pry very hard. Breaking the exhaust cover would ruin the motor. Ancient motor is not worth a bunch of parts. But, if I can get to the steering arm, I can grind it clean, weld it back up into shape, grind it into shape and paint it. I cannot believe I've gotten all the fasteners out without breaking a single one....... yet. She still has good/even compression and runs like a top, but, the steering arm is getting scary.

What am I missing?
Is or are there more fasteners that I'm missing?

Do I just need to put a little more persuasion into separating the power head from the exhaust adapter?

So far, I have not attached a lift to the lifting eye on the power head. Just trying to get the crack to open up between the power head and the exhaust adapter. When I get the power head to separate, I'll put her under a lift and lift the power head off.

Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

[71V153]

Have you disconnected the shift shaft?

[Henry0Hornet]

Yep - forgot to mention the foot is dropped. Amazing how good the foot looks inside. I guess having oily 2-cycle exhaust blowing through does a decent job of preventing corrosion.

I'm to the point that I think I just need to hook a lift to put a little upward tension on it and start working around the margins. Worked back through the procedure in the manual and I don't think I've missed any fasteners. I think I can spin the nuts back on the two short studs that come down through the back of the exhaust adapter and get some purchase on those to press up gently. Maybe just put some tension on her and leave it for a day or two.

[flabum1017]

It has to come straight up because of the studs, hookit it to a lift and rock it fore and aft a little as you lift.... fresh water motors come right off, salties need some coercing.....

[H2OPERF]

Wait, im lost.. are you doing this to just pull and clean up the tiller? If so you don't need to pull the power head, support the whole eng with a lifting ring , Remove gearcase/pull the 2 top tiller bolts and the 4 lower mount bracket bolts/ swing the motor out of the way and then pull the lower mount braket off and slide out the tiller..

[flabum1017]

Wait, im lost.. are you doing this to just pull and clean up the tiller? If so you don't need to pull the power head, support the whole eng with a lifting ring , Remove gearcase/pull the 2 top tiller bolts and the 4 lower mount bracket bolts/ swing the motor out of the way and then pull the lower mount braket off and slide out the tiller..

He's already broke the base gasket seal..... now he has to replace the gasket

[Henry0Hornet]

Wait, im lost.. are you doing this to just pull and clean up the tiller? If so you don't need to pull the power head, support the whole eng with a lifting ring , Remove gearcase/pull the 2 top tiller bolts and the 4 lower mount bracket bolts/ swing the motor out of the way and then pull the lower mount braket off and slide out the tiller..

Started out trying that route, but cannot get the the first two lower mounti g bracket bolts.to break free. I've rung off stainless bolts before and torqued them as hard as i dared. Changed routes and decided to see if I could get the top.off. amazingly, so far, that is working. Also, the front of the tiller bolts are so deteriorated that I doubt I could have gotten good purchase on them. Should be able get at.them more easily with power head out of the way..... I think...... Maybe....

Never done this trick before. So, this first iteration is curing some significant ignorance.

Still, would be glad for any advice.

[Henry0Hornet]

Power head is off. Access to the top of the tiller top bolts allowed me use a little gentle heat. Both came free and came out. I have 2 of the 4 lower mount bolts loose. The other two won't budge. Adding a little heat, but, trying not to melt the rubber portion of the mounts. And, still won't budge. Thinking about trying to use a fine tooth blade on a saws-all and go just in front of the lower mount face. But, will likely damage the front metal face of the rubber mount. Pondering... Before I break out the saw, 'will continue to apply gentle heat, penetrating oil, and torque for a few days. See if a little persistence and patience will work.

Where can I find the lower mounts? I don't find any new ones anywhere. And, not sure about the soundness of used ones.

[flabum1017]

if you got an air hammer, get this tool...... it will rattle loose the corrosion.

You put a socket on it, and while rattling it with the air hameer, put tension to loosen the bolt

[Henry0Hornet]

Thanks for the input. Don't have an air hammer. But, did use a punch and light hammer and cycled through hammering, heating, and gentle torque until they came out. Mid section is separated from the main pivot. The end is near.

Also, I've always been a fan of these old OMC 2 smokers. Water pumps, carb cleanings, plugs, and one power pack and she has always done her job. Recently, I have been considering repowering with a Zuke 140 or a Merc 115. But, wanted to see if I could do this steering arm. Having torn her apart, she is in great shape. Compression was checked a couple of years ago and was even and above 110 on all cylinders. So, I may wait on the re-power.

[Henry0Hornet]

First, thanks for all the advise.


Then, I think she turned out pretty well.



When I finally pulled this off of the transom, the outer edges of the horizontal planes of the arms of the 'Y' were paper thin. The vertical portions better, but, also badly deteriorated. The blocks containing bolt passages at the ends of the 'Y' were pretty substantial and not as badly corroded. The area around the pivot and the front arm of the tiller were corroded, but, not nearly as badly and still had a ton of metal left. So, the 'arms' of the 'Y' required some building up. If this corrosion pattern is typical, I'd urge other owners of similar motors to examine the condition of their steering arms. As you can see in the pic, there was a lot of meat left in the forward portion of the arm giving a false sense that the corrosion wasn't that bad. However, this part is what connects the top of the motor to the bracket/boat. The badly corroded arms were not far from dangerous on my motor. If that thing failed, it would be bad.



With angle grinder, drill + wire brushes, and dremel to get into the tight corners, I cleaned up the arms pretty well. I'm a typical hobby welder with a baby 110v stick welder. So, it took a pass or two to get to where I was laying good beads. Then, lay a bead on each arm. Let it cool slightly. Grind most of the way into shape. Lay the next pair of beads. I don't think the arms warped, significantly. Tried to work top and bottom alternately to keep things symmetrical. Periodically checked the temperature of the top of the pivot tube and it never really got warm. There was enough mass in the tiller itself to transmit the heat away from the welding. Now, the vertical portions of the arms are about 3/8" thick and the horizontal are about 1/4" thick. The area where the horizontal and vertical faces meet is probably 3/4" or a little better. Considering the steel is 60 0r 70 ksi, that should be gracious plenty to do for a few years. A little more clean up and paint and she'll go back together.



Again, thanks for the advise.

[H2OPERF]

I know you have done allot of work already but if it was corroded up that bad you can prob pick up a whole swivel off ebay fairly cheap..just buy from a freshwater motor. Biggest reason is they corrode inside the tube down at the bottom and there is a thin area in the lower spline where the tapered wedges seat in the lower mount bracket and they tend to break at that point if corrode almost thru...Just make sure you get the right length 20/25 in shaft are different.. Dave

[rochelle howell]

Tool mentioned couple posts back, if anybody's interested, is called " shake-n-break"........... and I helped!!!! Sweet tool, gonna get me one! Comes in 3/8 or 1/2 size. Amazon has it as does auto body supply outfits.