Lower unit problems

[buzzard559]

Asking for some helpful knowledge and information. I have a 2000 40 Mercury four stroke short shaft outboard prop motor.I put in the other day a noticed a ticking sound, at first I thought it was the motor knocking but soon figured out it was coming from the lower unit. I took it home and checked the lower unit grease and it had not only metal shaving but some pretty decent size chunks of metal in it to. I haven't hit nothing with the motor in a long time. And checked the grease before season came in. I don't work on things like this often so Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[mwardncsu]

Buzzard - that's not a good sign.... Likely some bearings or sow thing has gone and eaten something up..... About a year and a half ago I noticed an odd sound from my lower unit and it turned out the lower unit oil was basically gone - apparently failed seals. Pretty much a full rebuild of the lower unit - thankfully I still had about 3 months on the warranty and Yamaha took care of it....

[buzzard559]

Thanks for the information. I new it won't going to be good and was going to hurt my pocket. The motor has been very good to me over the years. Don't nothing last forever.

[buzzard559]

I have never had to drop a lower unit so I no nothing about it. Is there different parts inside it that could have possibly went bad or is it one of those things where u can't buy just one part u haft to buy it all?

[mwardncsu]

Various shafts, gears, bearings and such inside the lower unit. It's basically your transmission and drive train.

[striperjohn]

As your unit gets older some metal is expected to wear off inside the lower unit, that's why the lower plug is magnetized to attract and collect those small particles. I've had enough on one of my old Johnson's to cover the bottom of coke cap. But it ran for another 8 years.
You have the main drive gear connected to the shaft/propeller drive shaft. That's the main unit that wears. It could be a simple fix or it could be one of those "ouch" repairs, at any rate continuing to run it is not a good idea until it's looked at.

[Jason54]

When my lower unit went bad I put a wanted ad on craigslist and found a good deal on a used one. Much less expensive than a reman one. Mine was non repairable. Good luck!

[stripesniper73]

If you have insurance on rig it will cover lower unit if you hit something just because you hit something today does not mean you will see results today. also don,t shift into gear slow and easy this will cause clutch to wear this is where most fillings on drain plug come from