Reply To: 1981 Evinrude 4.5 HP Bolt torque

[Don]

You can find those plastic covers used on ebay for a reasonable price, just be sure it doesn’t have the same issue as yours.  I’m sure your current cover will be OK, for now anyway.  These covers are a royal pain in the butt.  Cheesy plastic that doesn’t seal well onto the gearcase housing.  And be very careful with that gasket, it more or less will fit two ways, but is only right one way.

These gearcases have an engineering flaw that causes them to burn up gear lube, especially if the engine is used on a tender/sailboat auxiliary, so change the gear lube frequently.