888 stern drive lower seals

[BrockR]

i have a 75' mercruiser 888 and ive had it on the water about two hours total since i changed the gear lube and its milky as all get out what seals do i need to replace?

 

[Bondo]

Re: 888 stern drive lower seals

and its milky as all get out what seals do i need to replace?

Ayuh,... The 1s that're Leakin'......

A pressure/ vacuum test will tell you which 1s...

 

[BrockR]

Re: 888 stern drive lower seals

how many different possibilities are there? i drained it and refilled it and had it hooked up to the water muffs for about 2mins and is once again it was very milky does this help with the diagnosis?

 

[jtybt]

Re: 888 stern drive lower seals

Look! You have a 35 year old drive and presumably no maintenance history. You don't take chances. Get the whole drive resealed, or it'll be toast.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: 888 stern drive lower seals

There are two major sets of possibilities... upper and lower. If you want to do the seals yourself you'll need a kit for each, plus the ability to buy, borrow or make a bunch of job specific tools.

There are major seals on the input shaft (top of the drive) the prop shaft (bottom) the shift shaft (front of bottom) the water pump (middle of bottom) and minor ones at the split of the two halves, the top of the gear case, the drain plugs, etc.

If you're not feeling mechanically inclined I'd recommend having a shop do it... I just did a lot of this myself and it's a pain in the rear.

Also keep in mind that depending how long the water has been there you may have gear damage or corrosion.

If the price to reseal the drive goes above about $400 for either half, you should know that aftermarket replacement halves go for about $600 or so each from SEI, so there's not a lot of sense in dropping a pile of cash into one of these.

You might also consider buying a used one locally instead of doing a ton of work, but you're just rolling the dice again on getting a bad drive. So be warned.

Erik

 

[BrockR]

Re: 888 stern drive lower seals

now the one thing i forgot to mention is that i didnt use the antifoaming gear lube i think thats what it is called, will this make it look milky?

 

[Apollo75]

Re: 888 stern drive lower seals

I have the same drive --- never had water in it --- I hope never will --- things wear out though. Lube should always look like new.

There is no real neutral for the whole outdrive --- shifting takes place in the lower half way at the bottom behind the prop --- everything turns from the engine to there so running it in neutral is bad if you are low on oil or if the oil is full of water.

I would pull the lower unit and seal it behind the prop and below the raw water pump --- replace the whole raw water pump including the base --- about $35.00 for the whole water pump. Look up Mercruiser manual #2 from the ADULTS section and do the maintenance --- remove the upper unit and check bellows etc, also make sure you lube everything --- that gasket / seal kit is less than $5.00 on-line.

These good ol boys are just saying --- expensive --- take no chances --- you put a lot of horsepower through the drive --- it has to be right !

Mine still runs because I never take chances --- have a problem --- it sits till it's fixed.


Good Luck

OFM