Mercury 2010 90HP Four stroke EFI
Hello I bought this boat about 3 years and decided to change the impeller this season. When I removed the lower unit (the motor was tilted) about a quart of motor oil came out of the drive shaft hole of the powerhead. I called Mercury and they said that unless your motor is a verado (which they confirmed mine not to be) this it is not normal and not supposed to happen. When I lowered the motor to vertical position the leak stopped, tilted it back up to horizontal and the motor oil continued to come out (about a quart came out all together) and then stopped.
One very important item to clarify: I did a motor oil change JUST before removing the lower unit (a day before or so) and DID NOT run the motor after the oil change. I am wondering if without the motor ran right after a fresh oil change there is all that oil which did not get a chance to get properly distribute itself. Thus, it is leaking out when the shaft is taken out. Is there any reasoning behind this (I am just guessing)? Before coupling with the crank the shaft goes through an additional assembly (gray box that is bolted via Philips screws to the bottom of the powerhead – see attached picture). This assembly has oring type gaskets within it. That oring must hold the oil during normal operation OR simply prevent moisture from entry. From what I can tell the oil is not coming down from the crankshaft (as in from inside the motor) but rather coming from a space between that "gray assembly” (potentially oil pump – not sure) and the actual crank inside the powerhead. That is why I am thinking, that perhaps, if the oil did not distribute itself or made it to the oil sump properly (since the motor wasn't ran after adding new oil) I am experiencing this issue.
Motor doesn't lose oil during operation, or storage, doesn’t leak when assembled and tilted or dropped, there is no water in the oil, so nothing is wrong until you take the shaft out while the motor is tilted (btw maybe I am over tilting it (if that is even possible) and spilling out of the oil sump since I am tilting it with the cover off and it goes much closer to the horizontal line that it would with the cover on).
Also included are two pictures of the actual shaft. Looks like the shaft has wear grove about 10” down from the top (circled in red on one of the photos, shown up close in another photo). Any comments on that wear? Why is it there, where would it come from?
Please let me know your thoughts – the motor is spotless and is working without any issues.
Hello I bought this boat about 3 years and decided to change the impeller this season. When I removed the lower unit (the motor was tilted) about a quart of motor oil came out of the drive shaft hole of the powerhead. I called Mercury and they said that unless your motor is a verado (which they confirmed mine not to be) this it is not normal and not supposed to happen. When I lowered the motor to vertical position the leak stopped, tilted it back up to horizontal and the motor oil continued to come out (about a quart came out all together) and then stopped.
One very important item to clarify: I did a motor oil change JUST before removing the lower unit (a day before or so) and DID NOT run the motor after the oil change. I am wondering if without the motor ran right after a fresh oil change there is all that oil which did not get a chance to get properly distribute itself. Thus, it is leaking out when the shaft is taken out. Is there any reasoning behind this (I am just guessing)? Before coupling with the crank the shaft goes through an additional assembly (gray box that is bolted via Philips screws to the bottom of the powerhead – see attached picture). This assembly has oring type gaskets within it. That oring must hold the oil during normal operation OR simply prevent moisture from entry. From what I can tell the oil is not coming down from the crankshaft (as in from inside the motor) but rather coming from a space between that "gray assembly” (potentially oil pump – not sure) and the actual crank inside the powerhead. That is why I am thinking, that perhaps, if the oil did not distribute itself or made it to the oil sump properly (since the motor wasn't ran after adding new oil) I am experiencing this issue.
Motor doesn't lose oil during operation, or storage, doesn’t leak when assembled and tilted or dropped, there is no water in the oil, so nothing is wrong until you take the shaft out while the motor is tilted (btw maybe I am over tilting it (if that is even possible) and spilling out of the oil sump since I am tilting it with the cover off and it goes much closer to the horizontal line that it would with the cover on).
Also included are two pictures of the actual shaft. Looks like the shaft has wear grove about 10” down from the top (circled in red on one of the photos, shown up close in another photo). Any comments on that wear? Why is it there, where would it come from?
Please let me know your thoughts – the motor is spotless and is working without any issues.
