Dropping the foot

[Rum_Pirate]

What to coat the drive shaft splines to avoid it ‘sticking ‘ in future?

 

[Boathook]

What to coat the drive shaft splines to avoid it ‘sticking ‘ in future?

I would use a decent waterproof grease and also use it on the dowels and bolts to try and prevent future problems.

 

[Beamishken]

I use this stuff :-https://bradechem.com/lubricants/aquashield-s1315-water-resistant-grease-400g/
I work in the oil industry & this stuff gets used on all the equipment going sub sea, tooling & ROV's etc

 

[Rum_Pirate]

I like your wood set up- good stuff.

I would invest in 2x $20 hydraulic jacks and push the wood apart using them. Position them close to the forward long 10mm studs, in line with the engine drive shaft. Maybe put a ratchet strap (like a belt) around the engine and both jacks, to stop them pinging out.

This will provide more/better force than just winding the nuts.

Don’t worry about pulling uber hard. The seized shaft will come out long before the engine bearings /crankshaft thrust retaining elements break.

Just pump the hydraulic jacks very hard!

It isn’t the gear change linkage that is causing this problem. If it were that, the lower unit would move down a couple of multimeters. This is a seized drive shaft spline and /or seized dowels.

If you want to cut a hole in the side of the leg and blow torch the stuck splines then great, but try it cold first imho.

Have taken your advice.

I let my son and his friend loose on it.

The got two bottle jacks and brute force.

They had to use a short length of 2x4 to make the connection.

However it was significantly impacted by the force of the jacks. . . the 2x4 not the engine thankfully.

 

[Rum_Pirate]

Even had to cut the impeller off. :ambivalence:

 

[jfm]

Nice job! Glad it worked out. Your wood set up was pretty neat.
In answer to the grease question, the trick is good waterproof grease and you must drop the foot every 2nd year. Now that it isn’t seized, it’s an easy job.