OUTLAW EAGLE MANUFACTURING

[Big Cat Dad]

I noticed gear lube leaking out of my rear stator assembly in my Merc 175 Sport Jet after a day of fishing.

I disassembled the stator housing for inspection and my suspicions were confirmed. My seal was essentially melted and in very bad shape. Thee was a lot of water in the housing.

Question is:

1.) Is this a common issue that needs to be replaced during regular maintenance. I change the stator assembly lube on a regular maintenance schedule.

2.) What was the cause of the seal being in THAT bad of shape?

3.) Should I be concerned about other damage possibly done to the unit?

4.) Should I just replace the seal, protector seal and bushings and let it ride? I have ordered Oil seal water pump base (14381), 2 rear stator bushings (835473) & protector seal (853950).

5.) Will I need special tools to install the seal? An older 175 manual said I need a special tool to remove the seal and replace the seal. I was able to remove it by hand though. Not sure if that's a good thing.

I'm not sure what I could have done wrong with installing my stator to the pump. The manual says "be careful when sliding shaft past seals to prevent damage to seals".

I thought I was very careful doing this, however, maybe I damaged it somehow, which eventually caused a failure. Is there anything special I need to pay attention to when installing new seals? Should I lube the seal before instalation of the new one?

Also, I'm not sure if the bushings are damaged or not. If they are, not quite sure how to remove the bushings. Is it a difficult procedure?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[ALEX]

Not sure what would have caused the seal to "melt"...normally they run in water and even if run out of water it is just a lip seal.They can get damaged during stator installation.The bushings will need an expanding puller to be removed;most transmission shops will have one.The seal and protector can be installed with any seal install tool...or a socket if you are careful.Be sure to use merc synthetic gear lube in front and rear of SJ pump..as per your owners manual.Check your oil after 10 hours...the rear section of the sport jet pump does not give much trouble and if your oil is contaminated you may have a housing issue.