Hello to all.I have a huge dilemma to figure out here.I made a mistake once again and made more work for myself.I just wanted to take a screw or bolt of one engine to see if it fit in an older merc to compare them,figured no harm as they came out easy.When i went to put the bolt or screw back in the 25hp copilot holes as you can see on the picture it started to go in crooked and i turned it a few turn to tight thinking it may go in alright but then decided to turn it back out because it was going in to hard,well the darn bolt broke off,all this over something i should have never played with in the first place put i was curious to see why 2 different yr mercs had different copilot screws.My 20 has so much play side to side because it's a collar bolt and the 25 has no collar so i wanted to see how the 25hp screws would fit into the 20 and see if it eliminated the play which it did.Now i have a broken bolt and don't know how to tackle this correctly without really screwing this up and need help because a whole new swivel bracket is big bucks and the labor forget it.I have to rip the whole top end of the outboard just to get to it for a stupid screw up.
Should i bring it to a marina and let them do it or can anyone help on this.I don't want to make a huge mistake of trying to drill it out when it when in crooked,the threads i would assume are shot in the screw hole now anyway after doing that.I figured if i can at least get it out i can try a new bolt and maybe retap the hole or i read i could use a shorter screw because it still catches and would tighten up fine,or possibly use a bit of a larger screw if it would fit.
First thing i need to do is get the bolt/screw out without damaging the aluminum or it's big bucks.I'm sure it's at least a $500-$1000 job through a marina because the power head must come off,etc.....It's a mess over one screw that is all i know.The worst part is the motor only has 3hrs on it and has been stored up for 14yrs of no use,it hasn't even been broke in yet.Any help on what i should do here would be extremely helpful.I have a great working 20hp so if i have to hold off on this for a while i will and tackle it in the fall here because it's hotter than heck here and sucks to work in it but if i can fix this i will.
I'm hoping this has happen to someone else that can help,thanks.
Should i bring it to a marina and let them do it or can anyone help on this.I don't want to make a huge mistake of trying to drill it out when it when in crooked,the threads i would assume are shot in the screw hole now anyway after doing that.I figured if i can at least get it out i can try a new bolt and maybe retap the hole or i read i could use a shorter screw because it still catches and would tighten up fine,or possibly use a bit of a larger screw if it would fit.
First thing i need to do is get the bolt/screw out without damaging the aluminum or it's big bucks.I'm sure it's at least a $500-$1000 job through a marina because the power head must come off,etc.....It's a mess over one screw that is all i know.The worst part is the motor only has 3hrs on it and has been stored up for 14yrs of no use,it hasn't even been broke in yet.Any help on what i should do here would be extremely helpful.I have a great working 20hp so if i have to hold off on this for a while i will and tackle it in the fall here because it's hotter than heck here and sucks to work in it but if i can fix this i will.
I'm hoping this has happen to someone else that can help,thanks.