RDE-17 25 hp 1955 Johnson-Drain hole (water) NOT drilled all the way through to

[outboardnut]

Well – someone in 1955 was was hung over and did not drill the drain hole all the through to the weep hole.
I know your going to say that crude gets in there and is hard to get out.But for SURE the hole was not drilled all the way down.
I do not have the facilities to drill the hole all the way.
Nor do I want to spend the money to have the hole drilled all the way.
My question is this
Would you still use the gear case even through the drain hole does not function????????

[bobw]

I would think this drain passage was not something that was drilled but was part of the factory casting. I’d poke around in there with some real stiff wire or maybe a drill bit on an extension and be sure it’s not just plugged up. On my QD-20 I thought sure the drain did not go through to the drain hole – 2 days of digging around finally cleared the rock hard blockage.

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

[outboardnut]

I did drill in the hole
Would you still use the gear case even through the drain hole does not function????????
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[bobw]

Well, I wouldn’t use it unless you want to pull the lower unit off and drain the water before you put it up for the winter. Maybe some others with more experience will weigh in on this but I’ve never seen or heard of one that had a bad casting at the drain passage. I’ve had to drill the passage on every one of my motors and just found them plugged up. A couple drilled very easily and quickly but my QD-20 and RD-18 both took a lot of work to clear them out. When you drilled yours, did you get any dirt/debris on the drill bit or did you get aluminum shavings?

Edit – you say you drilled in the “hole”. From your picture, I assume you mean you drilled from the top of the case down into the drain passage and not into the drain hole itself?

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by bobw.

[frankr]

Most of them are plugged. You could lay the motor down on it’s backside to drain the cavity before standing it up for winter storage.

[outboardnut]

I drilled from the top
I hit debris
then hit aluminum
I also cleared the other hole
When I drill- I put some naphtha in the hole
For two reasons
It helps dissolve the debris
plus it -leaks out the side hole telling me I went through

[outboardnut]

Video of tapping the bottom of hole
https://youtu.be/OzIOlnSe4rw

[fleetwin]

Well, I would swear I have run into this “undrilled” situation before also, but it is hard to say….The problem is you have to be so careful, you must know where your drill is at all times, you sure don’t want to drill thru and puncture the oil cavity….I would certainly mark the drill bit with some tape or something to make sure you don’t drill too far.
You have that gearcase all apart now, I would definitely clear the drain hole….Water trapped during the winter could split the housing open, have seen that happen more than once….

[outboardnut]

I do not have the facilities to drill the hole all the way.
Nor do I want to spend the money to have the hole drilled all the way.
I consider the upper gear case detective
Some guy in 1955 was hung over on a Monday
I am not going to pass the problem on to some future guy
Time to move on

[fleetwin]

I’m confused, your video looks like you have solved the issue with some sort of drill bit/wire rig set up…..

[Author]

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