Home › Forum › Ask A Member › 1957 Evinrude Big Twin 35hp HELP › Re: 1957 Evinrude Big Twin 35hp HELP
First the powerhead on those motors are ultra reliable if they are cared for.
Story time…
Once upon a time I rebuilt an nice underused ’57 Johnson Javelin 35hp. Did a mechanical tune up and cosmetic restoration. So out for sea trials on the first run with of this motor…ran like a champ! Up the river…down the river…then she bogged down and died. I grabbed the starter rope and she barely would turn over. Electric starter wouldn’t budge the motor!!
I get a tow home to the dock( I hate being towed! It’s a pride thing for me!!). Take the motor home…grab the rope…and she pulled right over, but I could feel something was wrong elsewhere!
Started checking the usual suspects…including the lower unit and it would spin in neutral, but not in gear!
Ah ah!
Pull the lower unit and open it. Guess who forgot, in their haste to go play, to put oil in the lower unit???
ME!
The pinion gear looked like a mushroom. Real nice n smooth. Well gears ain’t supposed to be smooth. The gotta have teeth to mesh with othe gears. That lower unit was still warm when I got it apart.
So I put in a new gear set and pinion. Reused the clutch dog. Seals were new…so I reused them too. New spaghetti seal on the clamshell halves. But she’s still running just fine today.
These motors by OMC take a helluva a lot of abuse before your screwed. My guess is the lower either lost it lube or never had any and fried. It is possible your lower unit has an internal crack that allowed the oil to go bye bye. I seen it happen due to improper storage. That would not be the fault of the shop that did the work…unless they did not catch it while pressure testing the lower after resealing it. Which they shoulda done.
Keep us posted! I’m not near you, but someone could help I’m sure!
Good luck!
Greg