Reply To: Help removing lower unit 1985 evinrude 6hp

[Don]

Is this a fresh or salt water engine??
First, shift the engine into forward gear…
There is no roll pin on top of this driveshaft, it does not have the same lower crankcase seal set up as older engines
The gearcase should pull down now, there is no shift rod connector like typical OMC models.
The water tube may be stuck in the rubber impeller housing grommet, which will require a little more effort to pull apart
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find a place to “pry the gearcase down and off” due to the plastic seal housing on top of the gearcase, so you will need to be careful when prying downwards with a screwdriver.
Finally, if this is a salt water engine, the driveshaft/crankshaft splines may be rusted/seized together holding the driveshaft and crankshaft together. So, you will have to decide how far you want to go with this project, you may want to leave it alone. If you pry hard enough, you will pop the driveshaft out of the gearcase, and the gearcase will pull down leaving the driveshaft stuck up inside the crankshaft. Once this has happened there is no way to reassemble the unit without pulling the powerhead off and getting the driveshaft out of there somehow. Please know that new/used driveshafts for this engine are tough to find in good condition, nice ones will cost plenty.
Am hoping this is a fresh water engine, and the water tube is just stuck in the impeller housing.