Drive lube oil
Hello
I was curious to know what may be a normal useage for an outdrives oil consumption. After about three hours usage on the weekend i need to top up my outdrives oil resevoir. Its about 1" below the fill line. Mercury alpha 1 drive. Normal/ abnormal? I see no leakage around the hoses or in the bilge area. any suggestions ideas Thanks, Brian |
Brian,
I recently had a similar problem w/ my Bravo III. Slowly losing drive oil, could not see any on the water, none in the bilge and none around the reservoir. Turns out the seal in the outdrive to transom was leaking. All the missing oil was inside the bellows. a new seal fixed everything. After running for several hours the oil level stabilized and topped i t off with an ounce or two and had no problems since. good luck steve |
Drive Oil
:wink_thumbup:
Thanks. Did you do the repair? If so any advice. I was so hoping to get out this weekend, the weather here is awesome but i seem to be having back spasms so i think it will only be in thought, AARRRGGHHHH. Thanks, Brian |
The work was covered under my last outdrive service. The Bravo III is a bit too heavy for me to pull. The Alpha is managable,but still heavy and awkward. Pull the lower plug on outdrive and Ck for any water in the outdrive. If there is water, get it to your mechanic asap. I had an alpha that was taking in water, explode while water skiing, gears and oil all over the place.
steve |
Does it do this consistently?
Quite often filling the drive can leave an air pocket which slowly bleeds off and lowers the reservoir level until the void in the drive case is filled. This usually occurs during the first several hours of operation in the season. Mine was dropping down last season, but it never got so low I felt the need to top it off. I mentioned it to my service guy last fall, and they pressure tested the system before the last winterization, but couldn't find any leaks. |
Drive Oil
The drive oil must be topped up after every outing. It is down to the first black line each time. No oil in the bilge, no external oil. I figure it is going out at speed while operating.
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Pull the lower drain plug and drain a little gear lube out. If you notice anything that looks milky you are probably loosing oil at the shift shaft seal. If you don't have any water in your drive then it is probably your gear end yoke seal. You can pull your drive off and I would bet your bellows are full of gear lube.
Do the first check by pulling the plug. If no water in the oil, go to your local marine supplier and get a mounting kit (paper gasket and some o-rings). Put your shifter in forward, take off your speedo tube, undo the six bolts and pull your drive off (I usually coax a buddy over with an 18pk of beer). You'll know right away if its your gear end yoke seal. Let us know what you find out. p.s. before putting the drive back on now is a good time to grease your coupler and u-joints if they have zerks. J |
Drive Oil
Hi and thanks for the response
I have tried to remove the upper plug and i cant budge this thing. If it were a restoration of a car i would have heat on it but i'm sceptical on applying heat to the housing. I can check the oil tomorrow as Mariah has a busy schedule this weekend. I figure i can get the parts at the shop and give it a try, you didnt make it sound so difficult but like everything its the first time and sounds expensive if a mistake is made. I have no doubt i can do the repair and the info you provided is what i was looking for. If there is no water in the oil i wonder if there is any damage that could be done by not correcting the problem immdiately. Thanks for your time Brian:wink_thumbup: |
Drive unit
How much do you all think the lower end weighs on a alpha one outdrive?
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Drive weighs in at approximately 75 lbs.
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Drive Oil
removed the lower drain plug on the outdrive and out came fresh looking gear oil. I believe this was a good sign. I will stop off at the dealer tomorrow to check on the price and availablity of the parts needed. I will look through the web page to see if the how to's give details on this process of outdrive removal and seal replacement.
Thanks, Brian |
The drive removal is going to be the easy part. If it turns out to be your gear end yoke seal thats going to get progressively more difficult. You will need a torque wrench and a special spanner wrench for the castle nut that holds your gear end yoke/bearing pack in the upper gear case. Also, if your seal is leaking its probably because at some point it got water into the bellows and rusted/pitted your gear end yoke. Yoke replacement requires a bit more savvy.
While your at the part house go ahead and get a mercruiser manual for your drive. Read up on pulling the drive and pull it to see what you got. If you got oil in your bellows then start reading up on seal and probably yoke replacement. If its something you want to tackle then give it a shot...you can save alot of money. If it looks too involved don't be afraid to load up your drive and take it to the mechanic of your choice. ~J |
Drive Oil
I also had the same problem and warning sound would stay on after ignition turned on. My mechanic took everything apart because there were no leaks but had oil in bilge . He resealed everything and problem was solved for 400 dollars ouch.
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Re: Drive Oil
Old thread, but here's a link to some good info for good measure: http://www.mercstuff.com/howdoi.htm
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Re: Drive lube oil
Quote:
Thanks for your thoughts! |
Re: Drive lube oil
ck for water in the outdrive. If it looks milky, fix it as soon as possible.
The oil in the bellows shouldnt have too much of an immediate detrimental effect , but it shouldnt be there. Have it serviced as soon as you can. If the outdrive hasn't been removed and serviced in the past few years, then it time to git it done. Check the condition of the bellows also. The Muskrats around home have developed a taste for bellows and transducer lines. I need a good recipe for Muskrats: |
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