cobra lower unit

I have a 1988 Cobra lower unit with a 5.p inboard engine. In servicing for the year, I removed the bolt on the left side which is under the medalian. I now find there is a nut inside the outdrive that dropped down when this was removed. Can I stop up the hold and leave the nut in the oub drive or iss it necessary to disassemble the outdrive to correct the situation?

 

It's generally a bad idea to leave metal things floating around inside a drive. I can't say for sure where the nut you mention actually fell, though, so I can't say if it will for sure cause damage. If the drive's a 1988 and hasn't been dismantled before, it probably wouldn't hurt to have it at least partly torn down- seals wear out, bearings need checking and sometimes replacing, etc. If it were my boat I'd take this as an opportunity to make friends with my dealer's mechanic and work through the process of dismantling the drive, replacing all the gaskets and seals and such, with him.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I did talk to the local dealer, the mechanic who is very good and has done work for me on other boats, and he told me that if I stopped up the hole, I would probably to okey. After finding out the cost of him fixing the problem, I left the boat with him. Incidentally, I purchased this boat last year. It is a one owner boat which had been kept in a closed garage, covered up since early 1989. I knew the owere, and he got sick right after purchasing.

 

I have removed the same screw and lost the nut in the water jacket of the unit. what will I need to do to remove the lost nut and seal this hole. A lot of water drained from this hole. Iwas attempting to winterize the outdrive

 

I recently purchased a 1989 hurricane with the cobra lower unit. The person I bought it from had the same problem. He had a dealer install a freeze plug also known as a boiler plug in the hole and told him it would be fine. The first time I took it out the freeze plug fell out,allowing the engine to overheat. I was in the middle of nowhere, and had a spare hull drain plug. The kind that has a T-Handle that you turn clockwise to tighten. It enlarged enough to seal the hole. I have had the boat out twice more and have not had any problem. The freeze plug probably would have been fine also, but they either installed the wrong size or did not expand it enough.