Alpha 1 Gen 2 Drive Oil Leak

[XJessen89]

I have a 1995 Rinker Captiva 190 we purchased from a family friend last summer. I winterized the boat in the fall and am just now going through and doing various maintenance items. I replaced the water pump in the lower unit, and while removing it I broke the clip on the speedometer fitting coming from the upper portion of the drive. I replaced the $30 fitting as seen in the photo, finished the other maintenance (Thermostat, oil change, cleaned spark arrestor, lower unit oil) and I topped off all of the fluids, including the drive oil reservoir. After 5 days of sitting in the shop, no use, no test runs, the drive oil reservoir is empty and I have found two areas leaking drive oil on the lower unit. It appears that Drive Oil is leaking in the upper part of the outdrive and running down the shift shaft, and also leaking from the vent hole above the cavitation plate on the starboard side.

Can anyone point me in the right direction here on where to look first? I am not aware of drive oil in any part of the upper outdrive system, and am wondering if maybe I have a cracked hose above the speedometer fitting. I cannot find a diagram that shows the routing of the hose from the oil reservoir to the lower unit, and I have not pulled the entire outdrive off of the boat yet.

Also curious if I could have overfilled the lower unit somehow (I filled it from the bottom with the service kit, and stopped when oil flowed from the top vent hole), or if I could have somehow damaged a seal in the upper unit while reinstalling the lower. I did have trouble at first as the boat was in neutral and did not line up properly with the shift lever on the lower. I realigned that, and it went back together no problem.

 

[Bt Doctur]

from the upper its usually the inputshaft seal. Pulling the drive will show oil in the bellow
From the hole in the lower, its the shaft seal under the water pumpor the Quad seal between the unit

 

[XJessen89]

Thanks! Sounds like I will be pulling the entire unit this evening/tomorrow. I have not removed the entire outdrive before, so I am not sure what seals I will need before I can reinstall. Are any of the seals able to be reused where it meets the transom, or should those be replaced each time the unit is removed?

 

[Bt Doctur]

you use a new mounting gasket kit, no rocket science

 

[nola mike]

And removing the outdrive is annual maintenance. You'll want to check your alignment (get a tool off of ebay), as well as your gimbal bearing and ujoints. It's also much easier to split the drive when it's off the boat

 

[XJessen89]

And removing the outdrive is annual maintenance. You'll want to check your alignment (get a tool off of ebay), as well as your gimbal bearing and ujoints. It's also much easier to split the drive when it's off the boat

Thanks guys, I should be working on this tonight. I built the stand for the drive unit yesterday and have a much better idea of what I am working with now.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Just be sure to put the gear selector in Forward before pulling the drive. Not that any of us here have forgotten to do that before tugging on the outdrive...

 

[XJessen89]

So I found that the lower seal in the gear case was bad and I got my drive back together with the new seals. I filled the oil from the bottom until it came out the vent, put the plug in the vent, and when the reservoir was about 1/4 full I had oil start leaking from the bottom of the water intake. The drive shaft is still dry so the new seals seem to have helped, but now I need to dig into the lower again. Is there a seal below the water pump I need to look at, or something I may have screwed up when I did the water pump a few weeks ago? I used the tool that came with the water pump kit to seat the seal on the shaft, and made sure to get the gaskets lines up correctly, so I’m not sure what else is different. I know that little quad seal can be a pain, but I checked that again today when I put the drive back together. Ijust don’t understand how I am getting a steady drip of drive oil coming out of the water intake.

 

[XJessen89]

When I did my water pump, I replaced parts 23 and up, I suppose it could be the lower seals #19 allowing oil up into the water pump housing. Like I said above though, it didn’t make sense that that the entire system had oil in it to the point where the reservoir was 1/4 full before it started to leak from the water intake.

 

[achris]

Did you do a pressure test on the drive before filling it with oil? When replacing seals, or looking for leaks, you MUST do a pressure test, or you're going to be chasing your tail (as you are now)...

Even when I do a full reseal, a pressure (and vacuum) test before the oil is ALWAYS done. It's not a 'maybe', it's essential.

 

[XJessen89]

I haven’t pressure tested it yet, but it’s next on the list now. What will I be looking for on a pressure test and a suspected leak in the lower? I won’t be able to see the seals under or around the water pump, unless there’s some type of plug for the quad seal and you can test the lower unit separate from the rest of the drive.

 

[achris]

... unless there’s some type of plug for the quad seal and you can test the lower unit separate from the rest of the drive.

Yep, it's called your helper's finger. Or you can set up a clamp and a small piece of rubber sheet to lock it off.

Chris....

 

[nola mike]

Yep, it's called your helper's finger. Or you can set up a clamp and a small piece of rubber sheet to lock it off.

Chris....

I use a rubber stopper. My understanding is that the upper can't be tested separate on a gen 2 though?

 

[achris]

...My understanding is that the upper can't be tested separate on a gen 2 though?

Correct. The driveshaft (from the lower) seals up the bottom of the upper. Unless you have an old driveshaft sitting around, it's not going to hold much pressure (only 1 bar absolute )

Chris...

 

[XJessen89]

I like the clamp and rubber sheet idea, which will probably hold 17-20 psi longer than my helper lol. I’ll let you guys know what I find out.

 

[XJessen89]

Well the pressure test was successful. I Found a major leak and a missing O Ring below the water pump. I don’t remember replacing the carrier with the oil seals in it below the water pump, but I guess I did. It looks brand new and seems to be missing an O ring.

 

[achris]

I like the clamp and rubber sheet idea, which will probably hold 17-20 psi longer than my helper lol. I’ll let you guys know what I find out.

no more that 10psi, please. Do the test in 2 steps. First at 1 or 2 psi, then at 8 to 10 psi.

 

[XJessen89]

I like 10 psi better than the 17 listed in one of the manuals I found. It won’t build any psi right now with the missing O ring, but that’s good advice.

 

[PrplGld]

Even when I do a full reseal, a pressure (and vacuum) test before the oil is ALWAYS done. It's not a 'maybe', it's essential.

Pardon my ignorance, if testing with the outdrive off the boat, why does the pressure not leak out the disconnected lube oil reservoir hose? I've seen several sets of instructions but no one specifically mentions blocking this hose. Maybe I should assume?

 

[achris]

Pardon my ignorance, if testing with the outdrive off the boat, why does the pressure not leak out the disconnected lube oil reservoir hose? I've seen several sets of instructions but no one specifically mentions blocking this hose. Maybe I should assume?

The connections are also check valves. There is a spring backed ball inside each of the connectors that closes off the connector in the drive and the connector in the bell-housing as they are separated, and no oil leaks out.

This is also the reason why you CAN NOT pressure test the drive with it still on the boat.