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  • Any Good Mechanics on here?? Need advice

    Looking for advice or suggestions on a pretty major problem i noticed on my boat motor today. Well to start its a Go-Devil Surface Drive mud motor powered by a Vanguard 37 hp EFI. But i noticed grease coming out of a very odd place today. And not only that but white grease which means has gotten water in it somehow. I called Go Devil and talked to the owners wife and she seemed to think it was the lower seals on the shaft in front of the prop. If this were the case id think it would be leaking grease out of the seal housing. But what i tried to explain to her was tha it was coming out of a welded joint where a piece of plate meets the shaft housing tube. And not only that but on both sides! Seems to me like a cracked weld or stress fracture there. But cant tell with the naked eye. I wiped the grease off and it would slowly start to ease back out. I wonder if this is where the water is getting in? I wouldnt think since if it is cracked it would be very small and the way the grease looked it had gotten more than a small amount of water in it. Or its been like that for some time and im just noticing. No idea. Go Devil boats and motors are built like a tank, theyre simple, well built, and very low maintenance. But even though its built like a tank, maybe i shouldnt drive it like a tank. đŸ¤”. I have, unintentionally of course, hit objects barely under the surface running wide open more times than i can count. But its made for those type of obstacles and would rip the lower unit of any outboard motor. But maybe ive hit one to many. Ive been real impressed with it and the fact i havent broken anything yet, besides nearly my wrist countless times and my knee cap once from the steering handle. But maybe someone could shed some light on this for me. Im no mechanic but i do know how things work and am mechanically inclined, i just dont like working on my own things bc i have to work on so much stuff at work i guess. I already had intentions of buying a new prop at the first of the year so that would be a great time to change the upper and lower seals and bearings since u have to remove prop to do that anyways. Which is no easy task from what ive read. Does anyone own one of these type motors or seen this happen. Ive included pictures to help understand my issue. Thanks
    Attached Files

  • #2
    The second picture is of the bearing and seal housing. And i didnt mention it but the last picture, the flat metal plate cover with bolts in it, could be leaking as well. But no matter where the water is coming from im pretty sure thats NOT where any grease should be coming out!

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    • #3
      hairline crack in the weld. water most likely coming in from the seals. Just took time to fill up housing and start pushing out the grease. Get welds repaired check and replace seals. JMT

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      • PaleoSnow
        PaleoSnow commented
        Editing a comment
        Ok I finally found info on the web from someone who had the same problem. They contacted go devil and explained the issue and even though his motor was ten years old they sent him out a support bracket kit free of charge to be MIG welded on and had the cracks welded. Im sending them an email with those pictures and im positive theyll contact me today. Thats why i like them so much, you can actually call and talk to the owner himself. Great customer service in the industry or any industry that i know of.

    • #4
      Thats what i figure it has to be. Stress fracture along weld. Im deff not doubting you on the lower seals but usually when they go bad grease comes out of them. When the shaft is turning with the motor on the grease is under pressure and thats one reason for the pressure lubricator. It kinda acts as an overflow i guess youd say. But i checked it and really cant tell ive lost any grease. So im thinking lower seals may be ok. But on the other hand…..while ive got prop off, im ordering a new one after first of year, then i should probably replace the seals and bearings in the lower end as well as the top end of shaft. I do run in sand alot and itll eat a prop up quick so i can only imagine it ate at the seals too and if not already bad then theyre likely to fail anytime soon. We really dont have anybody anywhere near here that services Go Devils although i did talk to boat shop ive always used as well as my dad about an hour from here, and they said they could do my prop change. I would do myself but id want to have the prop removal tool because i dont want to mess that prop up. Its still good in diameter but it has zero cup left and sharp as a knife on the ends. Theyll re cup it for only $20. Then ill have that one as a spare. But that removal tool is $50 and the shop said $50-$100 to change it depending all on how hard it is to get off. So i assume to just let them. Esp now since im going to need seals and bearings changed. Ill call tomorrow and make sure theyll do it though. They only sell Mud Buddy surface drives I believe. Im also going to get the belt tension checked and tightened if needed as well. Which i can do myself if i can find a tension gauge. Its pretty simple. I have been running this motor since i bought new in 2017 without any maintenance other than greasing it occasionally at shaft and frame pivots, changing oil every 50 hrs and i just changed plugs and fuel filters as well. So 115 hrs or so and 4 hrs with no major maintenance is pretty good and due for a tune up. Im not really hard on it but i dont always use boat lanes or watch for stumps and obstacles and ive hit things running WOT at 30 mph more times than i can think of. Even low speed contacts are rough on it and im sure from just the shear amount ive hit over 4 years has caused the damage. But i cant complain. They are well built, simple, tough motors and can really take a beating. But ill be more mindful after this fix likely costs me half the farm. And i had no idea just how much that sand would eat a prop up. Ive been stuck on sand bars and buried that sucker and hammered the gas and slowly dug my way out many many times or just run through barely any water churning sand for a long ways. Just to take a short cut or whatever. But now i see what it does ill rethink things from now on! Thanks for the help JMT. Im glad u feel like i do about it because i dont think Donna at GD understood what exactly i meant from explaining where it was coming from. But ill have it fixed asap. Probably before Christmas i hope because ill be off around 2 weeks and i can only spare a day or two without my boat! Ill go crazy without it. Im always on the water somewhere. And our fishing leauge starts up in February so ive gotta get back going and start locating some fish. I planned on going out and running some sonar this week too but it may have to wait. Ill take drain plug out today and see if water comes out and pump shaft back full of fresh grease. Maybe thatll be good enough to get by a little while. I have heard of peoples seals going out and they grease before every outing. I dont think im anywhere near that extent yet, but i guess they run them like that until water and sand wears out the bearings before they have it all replaced. Anyhow. Ill update you on the repair and appreciate your advice my friend.

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      • #5
        That grease there is contained in the shaft between upper and lower seals. Therefore it couldnt be that lower cover. It would have to be from lower seal or the cracks in welds themselves. If it were the cover leaking it would just be water inside that housing. No way for it to get into the shaft itself. Just realized that

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        • #6
          Well after closer examination it appears i have bent the entire shaft tube. Im going to have to bend it back straight somehow before do anything. But thats what caused fracture at that weak spot. I did talk to Warren at GD and hes sending me some new gussets to have MIG welded on to strengthen that tube. And for free. I took to my welder and had them look at it and wont be a problem. But the good folks at GD have changed their drive shaft ends up and is a different grade of SS. The new one has a squared end so the new prop is easily taken on and off and wont seize like mine probably is now on the threaded end shaft. So ill have to buy a new shaft as well, with new style prop, and lower seals and bushings. But itll be an easy swap since i just undo the coupling at u joint on top end and slide shaft out with prop still attached. And i dont have to do this upgrade now but itll make servicing the lower seals very easy since prop can be removed with ease and quick prop changes. And id have to do it eventually so now would be the best time imo. May replace upper bearing and seals too. He said didnt need to but i still may. All this is going to set me back a little bit $$$$$ but yod know what BOAT stands for right?

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