Upper bearing housing stuck F150TLRC

[BaffinBay]

I am the 3rd owner of 2004 Pathfinder 2200V with Yamaha 150 HP F150TLRC, with 1040 hours, first time for me servicing the water pump, fishing Texas coast and Louisiana marsh. I am unable to remove the lower unit upper bearing housing, and have not found the posts for that topic on this forum. Links are appreciated - I am sure they are here. I am using Marine Tech puller MT0016 with no success other than to move the housing about 1/16" with 50+ strikes with the slide hammer. I drove it back down to its' original seat with a brass drift thinking the movement may help. It remains stuck hard. I have attempted to rotate the housing by tapping on the corners with a brass drift to the point where I began to mar the aluminum housing - I whacked it as hard as was comfortable whacking aluminum. It did not move at all. I have soaked the housing as best I can with WD40 knowing the upper housing O-ring will probably prevent the WD40 from penetrating the corroded bore. I have not used any heat at all. I have in fact moved the lower unit into a cooler work area (80 deg F) thinking the Texas August heat may be a problem (91 deg in the shop). No change. The drive shaft is badly worn at the upper seal area and will have to be replaced so I can sacrifice that. I have access to other pullers (Proto, OTC) that I can rig up to the Marine Tech MT0016 claw assy. but am worried I will destroy the 1/4 bolts that carry the claws if I put too much pressure on the puller. Any suggestions are welcome. I know this is a common problem but have not been able to find the right link online to learn more. (The 4 bolts are of course removed!). The Marine Tech YouTube shows the housing coming off with about 6-8 shots of the slide hammer. Not this one! The puller is well made. This is cutting into my fishing time. Thanks for your sharing your experience.

[panasonic]

Put some heat to it with a heat gun. Also I see you have it clamped in one of those work mate tables..it's to light wieght of a table and you are losing most of the energy the slide hammer is producing.

It needs to be clamped in a vise mounted to a heavy bench to get every bit of energy produced by the slide hammer as possible.

Perhaps you can weight down that table or strap the table down to something good and heavy.

[BaffinBay]

Panasonic, thank you for that suggestion. I have a heavy work bench with vise and will give that and the heat gun a try.

[BaffinBay]

I clamped the lower unit in a secure vise bolted to a work bench and applied heat to the aluminum casting that carries the upper bearing housing first using a heat gun with no success, then carefully using a propane torch. I was able to move the upper bearing housing vertically about 1/16" using the MT0016 slide hammer until it stuck hard again. The upper bearing housing cracked and broke while I was applying the slide hammer - lost about 40% of the housing (2 bolt holes). I attempted to rotate the upper bearing housing using a brass drift to get a better grip with the puller claws and turned it about 45 degrees until it stuck hard. I now have very little material to grab with the slide hammer claws. I am hoping to salvage this lower unit: 2004 F150TLRC, upper bearing housing may have never been apart. Suggestions? Anyone seen an upper housing stuck this hard before?

[TownsendsFJR1300]

If there's enough material, I would try and drill and re-tap some new holes for the puller.

If not, I'd probably take a drill to what's left (maybe have a new one nearby to check the dimensions) and start drilling into the carrier.
Obviously, be super careful when near the edges as not to damage the LU itself...

I don't think there's room but if you could get a Dremel in there and just start removing material pieces should start coming loose..

Once one decent sized piece is out, it should be much easier...

[BaffinBay]

Thank you TownsendsFJR1300. I am thinking the same so far as drilling/tapping puller holes. I have the tools and experience, just not with Yamaha lower units. I can still get a very small bite on the flange with the slide hammer claws and will try again using a puller rather than the slide hammer. The drive shaft is junk due to substantial wear at the exhaust housing seal area so I can cut the shaft away as needed. I will update this post with photos. This housing has been extremely tight from the get go, and I had a small amount water in the lower unit oil. The corrosion must be severe.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

As your not worried about the drive shaft, I'd cut that off to give you more room to access the top of that carrier.

As long as you sneak up on the edge of the carrier, you should only have to remove say a slice of it.

If you have access to an air hammer, you may try putting it on the edge of the carrier and spinning(knocking) it clockwise or CC to break the corrosion loose.
That with penetrating oil should help loosen the grip..

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Any updates?

[BaffinBay]

TownsendFJR1300, Panasonic:


Ray here in Austin, TX. Finally, after many hours and strategies struggling to remove the lower unit drive shaft upper bearing housing and the prop shaft bearing housing, SUCCESS with no damage to the lower unit except to the upper bearing housing. Thank you for your help with this. See attached photos. I ordered a new Yamaha factory lower unit as I was not sure I would be able to get this 2004 unit apart. This will become my spare. Baffin Bay TX serpulid rocks are hard on lower units!

When 1/3rd of the upper bearing housing flange broke using the Marine Tech MT0016 slide hammer I extracted as much of the O ring as I could, soaked that section of the bore in PB Blaster, and over a few days of tapping and pulling and MAP gas heat managed to get that housing rotating in the bore by driving it with a brass drift. The rest of the flange broke off while rotating with the drift and enabled me to remove the rest of the O ring and apply liberal amounts of PB Blaster 360 degrees. I continued to bump the remains of the housing using the drift and it finally started moving easily. Next step was to drill and tap for an 8/32nd machine screw. The housing came out on my first very light knock with the slide hammer. The lower unit bore is OK. I do not know why this housing was so difficult as I went to the Marine Tech MT0016 slide hammer very soon in this process, and was flat out unable to rotate the housing in the bore initially, even with heat from a MAP torch and a brass drift. This is a 2004 engine with 1005 hours, service history unknown, my first attempt to OH the water pump and replace seals. Salt water in lower unit gear oil. Both shafts rotate freely. Have not yet removed shafts for full inspection. Seals are junk. Drive shaft bushing is junk

I also had a lot of trouble with the prop shaft bearing housing: I tried three different home made puller rigs using 1/2" all thread and then chain and U bolts and good OTC pullers with no success. Today the Marine Tech MT0017 puller arrived - the housing came right out with no heat, no damage. See photos.

I will let you know how the install goes on the new factory lower unit. It is time to get back to to fishing Baffin Bay and the Land Cut.

[panasonic]

Well you don't give up easy for sure...lol

I would be interested in seeing a few close up pictures of the bore and what's left of the housing...how corroded where they?

I have been dealing with corroded aluminum for 30 plus years in the aviation industry and still amazes me how parts can weld themselves together with sometimes very little corrosion. Having the proper tools or knowing how to make them is key to it all....along with gobs of patience.

A job well done.I hope after all that you don't find much more wrong with it an can make it a serviceable unit again.

Stay away from the rocks!!

[BaffinBay]

panasonic,
Here are better pics of the remains of the housing, and the housing bore. The surfaces are not scored or smeared, but they are not smooth. If the housing had not broken/rounded at the flange I am confident I could have dressed the surface with #400 wet/dry sand paper and put the housing back in service, except that the lip of the flange where the MT0016 puller legs grabbed are somewhat rounded from the pulling effort. So, I probably would not have chosen reuse this housing. I think the key here was finally getting PB Blaster down that bore, after I extracted the upper O ring with the flange completely broken off.

Again, I started this process by reviewing Yamaha procedures in Yamaha service manual LIT -18616-02-5 (not helpful for this procedure), doing a lot of YouTubing, including the Marine Tech Tools site, and checking the forums/posts for comments. My first step was to try to rotate the housing in the bore. That was not going to happen despite my persistent efforts. That is when I purchased the MT0016 puller, and then moved on to damage control. I am curious as to what the pros would have done. I found none who had dealt with a housing stuck this hard - I am sure I am not the first.

The MT0017 is a very impressive puller for the prop shaft housing. My plans A, B, and C did not work. I now have about $400 invested in MT tools, a bargain compared to taking this lower unit to a dealer, and I keep the tools for the next one. I am fortunate to have a squared away shop (27x39') and first rate marine diesel engine class mechanic's tools (Detroit Diesel, Alco, Twin Disc) going back to 1975). That sure helped.

Thank you for your interest in this, and TownsendsFJR1300.

BaffinBay

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Glad you got it out, your persistence pays...

The housing itself doesn't look bad considering. Even if slightly rough, a little some epoxy could fill in any gaps there..