2007 175 Optimax rear seal leak help!!

[Mykal]

I just noticed a couple drops of lower unit oil on the floor of my garage. I pulled the prop and yep, I have lower unit oil sitting around the bottom of the seal. I did not hit anything and ran it a few trips last fall when I bought it without any incident. This motor only has 60 hours on it. I do recall that I had to pull some fishing line off the inside of the spline when I bought it. Is this a difficult thing to fix? Is this covered under my warranty? Is this something best left to a mechanic? Funny thing is I just had the motor gone through by an authorized service center and it came back in perfect order, so this leak just happened.

[eurolarva]

Before tearing it apart verify it is lower unit oil. Unburned fuel and oil mix along with fogging oil will exhaust down the leg and look like the lower unit is leaking. Lower unit oil has a very strong and putrid smell versus the smell of gasoline. If after smelling it you are in doubt you will want to open the drain hole in the lower unit and let a few drops out. If water comes out or the oil is milky white it is getting water inside.

[john.wells]

Fishing line is the arch-enemy of that prop seal. They are not all that difficult to replace.

[Musky_Madness]

Check your local dealer too...you should have a decent warranty on a year old Merc if it's a serious problem. I believe you have 3 years.

[Mykal]

eurolarva, it's lower unit fluid, blue green in color. Same stuff I put in this fall. Not milky at all. I pulled the prop and it's sitting on the bottom edge of the shaft and inside the seal area. There was a piece of plastic? that came off the edge. Looks like the super line that was in there melted against the seal. Thanks guys for the info. I'm going to bring her in for service and make sure it's done right to keep my warranty intact. I do have 3 years warranty as I am registered as the original owner.

[hitthebricks]

I had the same thing happen to my 200 Opti, but I never pulled th prop. When I brought it in the tech just pulled the line out and the leaking stopped but it still cost cost me $75.00 because they did a pressure test and replaced the fluid. HTB