Found a hole in lower unit what to replace?

[charlie63]

When I took my boat out of the water to winterize I found a hole in my lower unit and the lower unit was full of water. I have a feeling the hole was caused by some rough weather (wearing a hole through on sandy bottom). An I only drove the boat about 20 minutes after and it ran fine. So my question is doe I weld up the hole(on the leading bullet end) and refill with oil or replace. does the top end need to be replaced as well?

[Bt Doctur]

drive

A teardown and inspection of the upper should be done to see if there is any damage from running with no oil. The lower could be heli-arced to repair the hole. Any serious damage from lack of oil may warrent a drive replacement.