TOPIC: Throttle stumble, lower unit oil leak.

Greetings all,

Peter here, used to post under the userid “thegammas”. Hoping I can get some direction on solving a stumble, and a leak in from the lower unit.

Motor starts easily, idles well once up to temp. At speed she runs smooth and responsive. However, even after fully hot, when I first get on the throttle, she stumbles for a few seconds, and then catches and revs up normal. Thoughts?

On the leak. Very slow oil leak coming from the prop ….what? Tunnel? I am sure it’s the seal in there. How hard to replace?

Run the idle misture screws a little richer, that is turn them out 1/4 turn and try, then do it again til stumble is gone. If you have to turn so much the idle quality is bad then it might be something else. You might have to bump idle speed up a tad to compensate but it should still be smooth. Lean idle setting generally causes stumble.
Oil dribbling out the prop could be unburned oil, that's OK. The way to check if lower is leaking is to remove lower drain plug and look at the color of the oil that drips out, creamy means water.
I'd pull both fill screws and refill from the lower one, letting a lot squirt out the top hole so you chase some of the older lube out. Put the screws back in and run, then check it again for color. Sometimes lowers that have low oil level will suck water due to a slight vacuum formed in the air space when oild cools and contracts.
Randy

Yes - I was going to try enriching the mix. It was sooooo hot on water on Sunday that I decided to bag out for the day (the kids were melting before my eyes).

That was it. I worked my way up and at a 1/4 turn more on each she idles and accelerates with confidence! Thanks!