What kind of a problem am I looking at?

[wvubrad23]

Hey guys,
I'm hoping someone on here will know what I'm talking about, and if I have a problem or not. I have a 96 Johnson Ocean Runner 115hp. I've had the boat for about 5 months, with absolutley no problems. Today, I hooked the boat up to muffs for a flush and let it run for about 15 minutes. During that time, I happen to look over and see I had water running out of where the lower unit bolts up to the rest of the outboard housing. I immediately thought that I had bad seals, then when I looked closer I could see that where the lower unit bolts up to the housing, there are some "ears" on the housing, and that it is impossible for the lower unit to snug up flush with the housing, so I don't know if there are any seals at the top of the lower unit housing or not. As you can tell, I'm not a mechanic, but I do have a little experience with outboards. As I let the motor run some more and looked further, It looked as if the water could have been coming from colar that sits near the top of the lower unit, where the gear shaft runs down into the lower unit. I guess what I want to know is does anyone have experience with this outboard, is this something that I need to be worried about? Should I be seeing water discharging from anywhere other than the pisser? I drained my lower unit afterwards, and lower unit fluid looked fine, no water. Any help is appreciated

[WildeOne]

Water coming from the parting line between the LU and midsection is completely normal, as is from numerous drain holes. The area above the LU is usually got a ton of water in normal operation, and there's no attempt to seal any of it.

Jim

[wvubrad23]

Thanks Jim for the reply. You just took a lot of worry off my mind!!!