Water seepage - OX66

[TimC2520]

So I have this 1999 225 OX66 with 1300 hours, original owner. Never been under tow, never broken down, still runs like a beast, no smoke, idles nicely. Compression 120-125 on all 6 cylinders. Pretty much been babied its entire life with way more preventative maintenance than was required (most of it done by me). It's developed a water leak, been told that it's probably a base gasket, but until the power head is pulled, we just don't know. Also concerns of what else may be found once pulled (corrosion, other parts that may benefit by replacement while that's off etc., broken bolts, etc.) Had one dealer look at the video and told me he'd give me $500 for it and wanted to sell me a new motor. Another dealer would not commit to a ball park figure in a base gasket repair because he was concerned how difficult it may be to get a 20yr power head off. Can I afford to re-power? Yes. Would I prefer to keep this thing running as long as possible? Absolutely. I could bring it to an independent mechanic that I trust, but I don't have a trailer so the hauling costs back and forth would be roughly $500+-. How much would you spend before it gets to the point of saying do nothing and just re-power? Or would you just continue to run it. From 0:12 seconds on you can get a good picture of the leak. Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovXOvy7CRw4

[pstephens46]

I would try to fix it. I assume you are not comfortable trying this repair yourself. Keep looking for a decent mechanic that can give a good estimate. Versus a dealer. Where are you located?

[TimC2520]

South Jersey.

[pstephens46]

South Jersey.

The Yamaha website offers a dealer search function with a filter for Master Technicians. I just tried it for Vineland, ect and got a few locations. It is a little cumbersome to use. The spot to enter the zip code is at the top of the page.

[walleye1]

Years ago i worked on a lot of dump trailers that hauled salt and a real pain, a lot of broken
bolts. Sometimes you can hit the head of the bolt with a hammer several times and will
help. If you bust the head off you can always weld a nut on what is left and use heat.You can weld steel to
stainless with steel wire but not the opposite.

[99yam40]

Years ago i worked on a lot of dump trailers that hauled salt and a real pain, a lot of broken
bolts. Sometimes you can hit the head of the bolt with a hammer several times and will
help. If you bust the head off you can always weld a nut on what is left and use heat.You can weld steel to
stainless with steel wire but not the opposite.

I am thinking you posted this on the wrong thread,

[walleye1]

The OP was talking about possibly breaking powerhead bolts when removing powerhead.

[rodbolt17]

broken bolts happen.
I just have learned to deal with them.
drilled and extracted 3 out of six pilot fuel jets from a set of 1995 250 carbs.
sheet happens.
fix it or scrap it.

[99yam40]

The OP was talking about possibly breaking powerhead bolts when removing powerhead.

true,
but he was asking how much would you spend to fix this before deciding to repower. so he was not asking how to fix broke bolts.
I just thought you were responding to one of the other threads.

OP if you are in a dry stack, you could see it they would pull the motor off and put on a pallet so you could haul to you place to work on it over the cold months.
the leak is not that bad yet, but no telling when it might get a lot worse.

I have no idea if it could strand you out on the water some how