Lower unit oil drain plug repair

[peiserma]

Hi everyone,

I did a search first, came up empty. Here's the problem: I have damaged threads on the lower unit oil drain plug. No water intrusion yet, but I'm fixing it this winter. My plan is to drill a bigger hole and insert a helicoil.

Here's the questions: 1) is the helicoil the best option? and if so 2) Do I need to remove the gearcase housing/gears to prevent aluminum shavings from causing problems?

I'm not sure how many parts I need to remove from the lower unit. I do have a shop manual (Johnson OMC, not a Clymers). Removing the gearcase seems straightfoward enough, but then it gets beyond my comfort zone. Removing gears and driveshafts reads like it's a lot of work, plus requiring a lot of specialty tools. I do have a 2-prong gear puller and a gear puller set from Harbor Freight.

Thanks for any feedback.