Removing outboard

[Ski213]

I'm planning to remove the outboard soon.  My boat is a 98 and I'm concerned about the condition of the sealant at the thru hull fittings and jack plate bolts given the age.  Not getting any water in to the hull just want to re-seal everything.  I have access to a pretty wide variety of equipment but I'm leaning towards just pulling in the barn and using a chain hoist attached to a rail to hold it.  I don't intend to un rig the outboard if I can avoid it.  Just want to move it far enough away to get access to the holes.  Anybody have any advice or tips?

[RFSims]

Why would you want to remove the motor? Just remove one bolt at a time and resale with silicon. BTDT

[Ski213]

Cause I'm not sure that there is enough clearance to get the jackplate bolts out. I need to take a closer look for sure.  One at a time would be a much easier route without question if possible. 

[RFSims]

6 minutes ago, Ski213 said:

Cause I'm not sure that there is enough clearance to get the jackplate bolts out. I need to take a closer look for sure.  One at a time would be a much easier route without question if possible. 

Don't take the bolt completely out. just pull it back where you can silicone around the bolt hole. If you take the bolt completely out and fill the bolt hole with silicone, you will push the silicone out of the hole when you put the bolt back in. If you want to remove the bolt, can you lower the jack plate and get to the upper bolts? Reverse for the bottom bolts, raise the jack plate. I would mark the position on the jack plate with a magic marker prior to moving it so I could get it back exactly where it was.

[Ski213]

19 hours ago, RFSims said:

Don't take the bolt completely out. just pull it back where you can silicone around the bolt hole. If you take the bolt completely out and fill the bolt hole with silicone, you will push the silicone out of the hole when you put the bolt back in. If you want to remove the bolt, can you lower the jack plate and get to the upper bolts? Reverse for the bottom bolts, raise the jack plate. I would mark the position on the jack plate with a magic marker prior to moving it so I could get it back exactly where it was.

Looked at it today. Top bolts aren't an issue and when I raised the plate looked like the bottoms will be close but I'm pretty sure they'll make it as well. May just do them one at a time as you suggested. I appreciate it. 

[WIGuide]

You could do them either way. Removal is pretty straight forward. There should be enough slack in the cables to gain clearance. My only tip is to have an extra set of hands. Aside from that it's a pretty easy task. One other thing to check before you start is if your motor has a built in lifting hook or if it needs the screw in type that you screw into the fly wheel. 

[Ski213]

7 hours ago, WIGuide said:

You could do them either way. Removal is pretty straight forward. There should be enough slack in the cables to gain clearance. My only tip is to have an extra set of hands. Aside from that it's a pretty easy task. One other thing to check before you start is if your motor has a built in lifting hook or if it needs the screw in type that you screw into the fly wheel. 

Thanks for the tips. OMC felt that it made more sense to not spend $2 to give me a built in hook when they can charge me $30 for an eye bolt down the road. Good to hear it's not a big deal to pull. I may still go that route.

[Way2slow]

They might make one, but I've never seen an eyebolt that screws into the OMC flywheel. 

A couple of options for making a lifting ring.  Buy one of those cheap Chinese harmonic balance pullers, saw most of the bolt off and weld a very large washer or steel ring to the top of it.  Leave enough threads so it will screw down to the crankshaft with at least another 1/2".  That way it might work as a flywheel puller also.  There are three threaded holes in the top of the flywheel for some SAE bolts (most are 5/16) to bolt it down to.  One word of caution there also, don't use bolts too long or you can screw one down into the stator and screw it up.  Also, get grade eight and some heavy washers if you ever try to pull the flywheel with it and then hope the cheap a** puller can stand the strain it's going to take to pop the flywheel loose.

Next option, drill three holes in a small piece of flat steel at least 1/4" thick that line up with flywheel, drill and tap a hole in the center of it to screw a 3/8" shank eye bolt with a large enough ring to for a lift hook.  Or drill at least a 3/8" hole in the center and weld a nut to it to hold the eyebolt. 

[gulfcaptain]

Yep, this is why I paid the dealer when I bought mine $125 extra to pull the motor off and reseal those bolts with a marine adhesive (3M 4200)  and get rid of that old sillycone.  

[Ski213]

13 hours ago, Way2slow said:

They might make one, but I've never seen an eyebolt that screws into the OMC flywheel. 

A couple of options for making a lifting ring.  Buy one of those cheap Chinese harmonic balance pullers, saw most of the bolt off and weld a very large washer or steel ring to the top of it.  Leave enough threads so it will screw down to the crankshaft with at least another 1/2".  That way it might work as a flywheel puller also.  There are three threaded holes in the top of the flywheel for some SAE bolts (most are 5/16) to bolt it down to.  One word of caution there also, don't use bolts too long or you can screw one down into the stator and screw it up.  Also, get grade eight and some heavy washers if you ever try to pull the flywheel with it and then hope the cheap a** puller can stand the strain it's going to take to pop the flywheel loose.

Next option, drill three holes in a small piece of flat steel at least 1/4" thick that line up with flywheel, drill and tap a hole in the center of it to screw a 3/8" shank eye bolt with a large enough ring to for a lift hook.  Or drill at least a 3/8" hole in the center and weld a nut to it to hold the eyebolt. 

You're right. I looked farther in to it and I think the OMC eye bolt is actually a part of a puller similar to what your describing fabricating. It has a tapered end like its part of a puller so I guess there's another piece to it I didn't see,  Be alot cheaper to make what you suggested.  Those cheap a** pullers make me nervous. I probably have some plate laying around.  

12 hours ago, gulfcaptain said:

Yep, this is why I paid the dealer when I bought mine $125 extra to pull the motor off and reseal those bolts with a marine adhesive (3M 4200)  and get rid of that old sillycone.  

I actually saw where you posted about doing that in another thread and your post is what got me thinking about doing this.  

[Way2slow]

Those Chinese pullers will lift the engines weight with no problem, it's just when you try to use one as a flywheel puller they usually don't fare so well.  The flywheel is on a tapered shaft and torques down to about 140 ft lbs so they get pretty dang attached to where they are at and don't like giving that spot up.

[gulfcaptain]

2 hours ago, Ski213 said:

 

I actually saw where you posted about doing that in another thread and your post is what got me thinking about doing this.  

Well when I inspected the boat, didn't like the looks of the silicone that was on there and being in the marine industry, I wanted to fix something that could have become a problem before it did and honestly I was told I was the first person to ever ask to have that done before buying a boat.  Go figure.  Little things can lead to big problems.  I know you want to do it yourself, but you could have it done if you take your motor in for service one a year and just have them do it while it's at the shop.  But then that may not be a viable option for you either.

[Ski213]

4 hours ago, gulfcaptain said:

Well when I inspected the boat, didn't like the looks of the silicone that was on there and being in the marine industry, I wanted to fix something that could have become a problem before it did and honestly I was told I was the first person to ever ask to have that done before buying a boat.  Go figure.  Little things can lead to big problems.  I know you want to do it yourself, but you could have it done if you take your motor in for service one a year and just have them do it while it's at the shop.  But then that may not be a viable option for you either.

It's viable but I generally do my own work on stuff. I have a condition that prevents me from leaving anything alone.  Sometimes that's cost me a dollar or $500 but its saved me alot more than that in the long run. I'm guessing that my silicone is 8ish yrs old so its time.  Hard to believe you were the first person to ask for that.  

 

5 hours ago, Way2slow said:

Those Chinese pullers will lift the engines weight with no problem, it's just when you try to use one as a flywheel puller they usually don't fare so well.  The flywheel is on a tapered shaft and torques down to about 140 ft lbs so they get pretty dang attached to where they are at and don't like giving that spot up.

I may just use one of those then. Yeah 140 ft/lbs and a tapered fit I would imagine takes a heck of alot of force to get loose.  Every time I break something like that loose there's a second or two where I'm certain that I have destroyed something.  It never sounds like something coming apart to me as much as it sounds like something breaking in half.  

Thank y'all for your help!