My Friend has a leak at the bottom where the fitting is on the reservoir for the drive.It is the round style.I am assuming that there is a gasket or oring. Is this a common problem? Is it a simple repair?

Thanks
Rob

That is usually a cracked bottle -

That vintage is probaly a round bottle. If so, Merc has redesigned the deal and your pal needs to get the new design. It requires a new bottle and transom mounting bracket.

After replacing a couple of cracked round bottles I got the new design and haven't had any problems since.

Yeah, I got the round ones too. I replaced one and if (when) they go bad I'll upgrade. It is a bad design. Even if they don't crack it is a good chance that they'll leak because the sealing surface of the bottle on the inside is un-even.

Mongo