Drive oil is low, what do I top off with?

[jleconte]

I am new to the boating world so pardon the igorance. I have a 1994 mercruiser 5.0 V8 alpha one and the drive oil reservoir is low. I can not find a product called drive oil. Do I top off with gear lube?

There are no leaks.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Drive oil is low, what do I top off with?

Jason, You will need to use gear lube, but their are a whole bunch of different gear lubes to choose from. Your owners manual (or Mercruiser dealer) will recommend a regular gear oil and perhaps a synthetic gear oil as well. I would note the color of the gear oil (green, yellow, blue...) and tell them the color and ask for more of the same stuff. BTW, if the gear oil is milky, it has water in it, and you have a possible seal failure which you need to get fixed.

 

[jleconte]

Re: Drive oil is low, what do I top off with?

Thanks so much! I will do that.

Jason

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Drive oil is low, what do I top off with?

You should drain & refill the gear oil, not just top it off....
It is not normal for the level to go down......
Welcome to iboats, btw.......​

 

[catchbats]

Re: Drive oil is low, what do I top off with?

Yea, what he said! I also recommend a drain and refil to find what ever's causing it to go down. You may have water in there. My Volvo book says to use 75/90 gear oil but your book may say differently.