WEll, I'll back up.....I'm not so sure that the oil itself "circulates" per se', (although I think it does)
The oil gets to the top when you pump it in from the bottom. If you produce metal chips from damage or otherwise, those chips WILL settle to the bottom and (hopefully) be attracted to the magnetic plugs.
If damaged top gears and bearings produce a LOT of chips those chips do find their way to the bottom gears and bearings..... requiring the whole drive to be disassembled.
(By the way, I got all the specs on the bearings and then found the correct cross referance and bought them at my local bearing house from the same manufacture. MUCH CHEAPER!!)
Yeah I would have done the same thing. Bearings are bearings. OMC did not make their own bearings. They sourced them from Timken, and other companies.
I think if you had a failure in the drive that was catastrophic and you don't inspect the other parts inside, it's just a gamble if you just fix what you see and put it back together without looking at the other moving parts.
The oil DOES circulate or move around to a certain degree......Otherwise it wouldn't all be the same color after being in there a while. And if you get a small amount of water in the oil. It all turns to "chocolate"
If you look close at the verticle driveshaft you'll find the oil galley, the driveshaft is the path of oil between the upper and lower gearsets, it is hollow.
Now I am still trying to figure out how the heck oil is pumped to these bearings and gears. When I took it apart the bearings and gears had oil on them but there wasn't any oil to speak of in the upper case so I am assuming it gets pumped to them from the lower case and drains back down with gravity. I don't want to miss something and end up with no oil getting to these bearings and gears.
Well.....that's different. Oil is NOT "pumped" up there (while running). Enough oil is "pumped' in there by you to "fill" the drive so that those gears and bearings are submerged.....Which is why there's a dipstick up on top. (#13) below. (that's a 96 SX below)
Basically temperature and gear movement is what moves the oil from top to bottom, bottom to top. How, I don't know or even care. It does. The point is, it does. If there are shavings in the upper or lower, they will go to the other half.
I have to ask, is this the OMC from your other thread on plastigage http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=321789
If it is, forget the words OMC. It's all Volvo insides. I sure hope you have an OEM manual and not some of that aftermarket junk if you are trying to make the drive so it will last longer than one season.
I don't think the oil level is that high but who knows. Bottom line seems to be it wasn't me and blindness, there is no pump. You think that shocked me, I was even more shocked to see there is no raw water pump in it!
When you get back to KTN, head out to Lighthouse Marine, talk to Mike and Danny, tell them Don (a worthless mechanic that used to work there) sent you.
Just for the record, what were the part numbers and manufactur ,Timken,
for the bearings. When I lubed the '96 gimbal. I noticed a slight stick to the bearing while turning the shaft.. so I may have to replace them next time..Thanks
