Re: Alpha one gear lube resivore
Mercruiser has a factory version for the early Alphas, I see them on ebay all the time, around $150 or so.
I picked up a cheezy homemade version off Ebay about 5 years ago for about $40, after my drive was losing alarming amounts of oil. Its nothing more than a brass fitting that threads into the upper oil vent hole, with a flexible hose that goes through a brass fitting through the transom and up to a small reservoir (marine grade oil hoses of course). Havent had a drop of water in the drive since. This is certainly due more to the new drive seals I installed at the same time, but I figure the very slight positive oil pressure the reservoir provides is cheap insurance against getting water in. I figure at worst I may lose some oil out, but to date I havent lost a drop, which the reservoir lets me easily monitor.
If it will give you some piece of mind, I say pick one up and install it. Merc obviously saw some value in it but making it standard issue on the newer drives.
