Oil leaking - shift cable

[hermannm]

Can anyone help identify where this oil might be leaking from? It smells like gear oil but is brown not the normal dark green color.

 

[dubs283]

could be a mixture of water, gear lube and grease. there is a seal at the rear of the shift linkage cavity that may be leaking gear oil

have seen the same issue before and determined that there was too much build up in the shouldered o-ring recess for it to seal properly.

fyi your anodes are shot

 

[hermannm]

Yes I know on the list of things to replace. How do you get access to this seal. Do you have to split the lower unit or take the top cover off? I pressure tested the drive and it did not leak down.

 

[hermannm]

My other thoughts. The steering shaft was leaking water. Could water run down the shift cable and into the housing?

 

[dubs283]

Yes I know on the list of things to replace. How do you get access to this seal. Do you have to split the lower unit or take the top cover off? I pressure tested the drive and it did not leak down.

remove the top cap and rear cover on the upper driveshaft housing, this allows access to the shift linkage cavity and the shift shaft seal located where the shaft enters the gear/clutch cavity above the shift linkage

fwiw i've never seen a shift shaft seal fail in that location

given the amount of grease present on the shift jaws and fwd shift linkage my best guess is there was slight water intrusion from the o-ring that seals the area with the bell housing. ime ive seen far too much bellows adhesive in the shouldered recess for the o-ring and have had clean out excess adhesive to allow the new o-ring the proper opportunity to seal