Alpha 1 Gen 2 Oil filling

[Simoniz]

My boat is currently out of the water, and I need to refil the outdrive with oil.

I only have just over 1 litre of oil at home and where I live, Merc High Perf Gear Oil is quite expensive. Ill be making a trip to the US where I can buy the stuff much cheaper, but not until after the date when my boat gets put back in the water by crane (fixed date, not variable and slip not an option).

Obviously 1 litre is not enough to fill the drive (takes 1,2 l, not including reservoir), could I put what oil I have into the drive from the bottom using a filling pump, then add the rest later via the reservoir? Would the oil run down into the drive properly, or might I end up with airlocks, and risk the top end of the drive running with no oil?

 

[Grub54891]

Re: Alpha 1 Gen 2 Oil filling

Make shure it's full now! If the upper gearcase has no oil,it'll ruin the gear's rather quickly. Even a minute can wreck it.
Yeah oil will make it to tge gearcase after launch but I wouldn't trust it getting there without an airlock. When running it keeps tge case full by way of natural heating/cooling cycles.

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Alpha 1 Gen 2 Oil filling

Here's a link to the a1g2 Merc. serv manual if you don't already have it:
Boatinfo - Mercruiser Service Manual nr. 14 - 1991-Current - Sterndrives Alpha One Gen II</

...and read down on page 1b-13, step10, where it shows to keep pump until the bottle is at the full line. You also keep some onboard so if the level does drop slightly the first few trips out after changing the lube, you can pour more in to keep at the proper level.

Mark