oil leak?
 

While getting my boat ready to go fishing I found a small amount of oil leaking from the hub on my 200 opti. Could it be this cold weather affecting the seal and it be fine or is it most likely a major issue?

by hub do you mean the exhaust? the open area in front the prop? make sure its gear oil and not engine oil. sometimes with two strokes you can have a little unburnt oil leak out of the exhaust. if its gear oil probably a prop shaft seal. just check the gear oil after you use it and make sure you have no water in it. if theres water the oil will be milky.

It is gear oil but its a very small amount. I cleaned it up this morning and just checked and no more has come out so hopefully it just the cold weather. Oh and there wasn't any water in the lower unit. I'm going after some sac-a-lait and bass tomorrow morning so I'll check again after I get back.

Pull the prop and see what it looks like.
I have seen fishing string mess up the shaft seal.

I pulled the prop no visible damage and the shaft didn't seem to be bent. So I cleaned up the oil out of the hub and re-installed the prop. Just went check on it and no more oil has come out so I'm going fishing in the morning and I'll check for water in the oil again after I get back. If no water and no more oil leaks out I think I'll chalk it up to the cold weather.

I see your from houma, do you fish bayou black? if you do I'd like a report, I'm thinking about fishing there after the Bassmasters classic.

I plan on fishing between Miners Canal and the fire station launch in Houma but we do fish Bayou Black around the Turtle Bayou area. That's also the area where we duck hunt. I'll post how I do once I get back.

LP I fished this morning and only caught 5 small bass. When I got back I checked the oil again and the oil is milky. I guess I'll be bringing it in soon. I'm gonna have the shop change the impeller on the water pump while they have the lower unit off to change the seals. Is there anything else I should have changed and how much does it normally cost?

prop shaft seal not that much but they will charge you 1hour in labor. water pump kit 50-60 bucks and another 2 hours. whens the last time you changed your water pump? there is a seal below your water pump that may be bad instead of the prop seal thats letting water in. you could save some money if you did it yourself the water pump and prop seal are not that hard to change.

The pump was changed last year at 100 hours. Is the any special tools needed to change the seals.

I wish then I wouldn't care, I'd just bring it in. But it is what it is. I talked to the Merc dealer here in Houma and he said he'd drop the lower unit and pressure test it for $95 and we'd go from there so I'll probably drop it off next week.

No I bought it last year and it had just broke 100 hours. The guy I bought it from had the 100 hour service performed 2 weeks before I picked it up. The motor is a 2006 but it was bought new in 2008. I only have 156 hours now cause between the oil spill (I bought it 2 weeks before it) and work but hopefully that'll change this year and I just want it in top shape before May sneaks up on us.