I’m an idiot

[Pauken23]

Ok, I’m posting this here hoping for some honest answers. So I forgot to change my lower unit oil (70’s Johnson 50hp) until now and of course there was a little ice at the bottom. Used my heat gun and 10 seconds later it was flowing out. Continued to heat the unit up and got new oil in there now. My question is what could I have already damaged? Also, how would I know? The motor is old and has problems but like many other old products it still runs great despite its problems. I’m sure I could fix $500 worth of stuff on it but it’s old and runs fine. Just concerned now about this ice at the bottom of the lower unit. Thanks in advance!!!

[wajski]

look for cracks or pushed seals you could drain and test but I would wait till spring now. I would say no gears or shaft was damaged but you know till you run it.

[Pauken23]

Yea my plan is to take it out first on an inland lake and change the oil after and see. It already takes on a little water obviously.

[ebijack]

About how much water? A table spoon or less? Was the oil/lube milky color?
I doubt you have any cracks or damage. As long as there is/was non watered down lube you should be fine. Typically at 3% water the lube to begins to not be able to lubricate. The lubes other job beside lubrication is to absorb moisture. Main reason why to change it.
Typical leak points would be your top/bottom plug seals/o rings.
Next I'd look behind your prop and make sure no line has cut your shaft seals.
Next would be at/around your waterpump. Which can be fixed by just replacing with a full water pump kit/o rings etc.
Depending on how long your engine sat and the temp swings, you could just have/had some moisture from cold/warm air. And no real problem.

[sherman51]

i would say nothing hurt at this point. the main problem with water is if there is enough in there it will freeze and expand and crack the housing. we haven't had any real low temps at this point. and if there was just water at the hole that came out it probably wasn't enough to expand enough to crack the housing. did your drain screw have a seal on it? i would probably have the prop shaft seal replaced and use new seals on both the upper and lower screws. i would do this early next spring before the season starts.

[Pauken23]

Yea there was just a little bit of water at the very bottom. Less than a tablespoon. The oil itself looked great. Thanks for all the replies! I know a mechanic would’ve just said “bring it in” lol. Also, had I actually checked the weather I should’ve waited another day to change it because it’s now in the 40’s in Toledo. Would’ve saved me getting my heat gun out to melt the tiny bit of ice at the bottom.

[pimplepounder]

Yea there was just a little bit of water at the very bottom. Less than a tablespoon. The oil itself looked great. Thanks for all the replies! I know a mechanic would’ve just said “bring it in” lol. Also, had I actually checked the weather I should’ve waited another day to change it because it’s now in the 40’s in Toledo. Would’ve saved me getting my heat gun out to melt the tiny bit of ice at the bottom.

You should be good on the water/ice issue. Once you get enough water to where it can expand and push against that sides of a housing, that is a different story. If there was a bunch of water, it would be emulsified /very milky and it takes a long time for the water to separate from the oil. But you said the oil was clean and only a spoon full of water give or take. Check behind your prop for fishing line. This braided line is some very rough stuff on shafts and seals.