O ring?
 

Is there supposed the be a o ring in the tilt tube for a mercury outboard? On the port side

I've never seen one with one in it.

The reason I'm asking is there is a grove in the tube that looks like a o ring should be there to keep the dirt out, And there's nothing there so dirt could get in I just thought someone would know

I have the repair manual and there should be a o ring but it doesn't give you the item number so if you don't have one it's missing too, on the port side in the tilt tube on the end of it there's a groove inside Mine is missing So there is nothing to keep the dirt out

The steersman nut is the solution only if i can get that dam nut off ,, I posted that question and got 16 views but no answers So I guess it is a problem we can't answer ,,,,,,,

I have to look at mine to see how it goes together. But can't you just put a crescent wrench on the nut on the starboard side of the tube to hold it from turning while you back off the nut on the port side? :head:

As far as O rings go you can buy a nice O ring kit from Harbor Freight for less than $10 bucks that will probably have the O ring that you need.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog...esult?q=O+ring

I don't know I could put a wrench on the starboard side but will it hold the tube from turning? I didn't try it but that would be easy I heard that people had a problem removing the port nut So if you can hold it with the starboard nut why is there a problem? I'm going to try it I will let you know