I'm in the middle of trying to replace the tapered plastic insert fitting that goes inside the gimbal to transom water hose on a 502 MPI Bravo set up. The fitting and hose at the transom side was all collapsed causing a water pickup restriction. So my questions is how the F do you get the collapsed and corroded plastic tapered fitting out of the hose so a new one will go in? The official Merc insert tool wont fit in it because it's all collapsed, tried different shaped picks, stubby screw driver, two different kinds of large bolt extractors...............broke a few pieces of the plastic off near the end but can't get the majority of it out. Anyone have the "trick" figured out to do this? Also I thought about trying to just pull the whole hose out from the outside but it looks like it might be a nightmare trying to get a new hose back in. Appreciate any help, Thanks

I heated up a knife blade and cut the plastic insert. I also went with a new hose though just in case the hose was junk. Not a lot of room in there for sure. good luck

What about using a large chisel, pounding it into the plastic piece and turning it.

Mine were in bad shape too, and the insert tool tore it up. Luckily I was taking everything off so I just used a routing bit and destroyed it....

I would get the hose too as it is probably pretty rough from all the pressure that collapsed the insert. When I did them I had the transoms off so I just pushed the hose/insert out from the back side.

I just use a large screwdrive down the ID of the bushing, catch the lip at the bottom of the bushing and pry it out. The rubber hoses backing the bushing flexes so it come out easy. Replacing the hose would mean another of these tapered bushing at the other end so you might want to not wreck the hose. To reinstall the new plug I find a large thick washer of the proper OD. Grind 2 flats so they fit neatly into the bushing grooves, and spin the bushing in using the washer powered by a vise grips. A little dawn on the threads will help. Make sure you don't twist the hose.

Thanks for the responses. After fighting with the bushing down behind the engine for a couple hours I decided to just remove the gimbal and try to get the whole hose out........replace it and the fittings/bushings on both ends. I'm in the middle of that torture right now