Filling Outdrive with oil

[MtnBoater]

Hello, first time winterizing...

So I am winterizing my outdrive(a 1985 merc alpha), now I'm confusd on filling it back up with oil.

I am told you must fill it from the bottom up, and putting it in the top hole(labelled "vent"), will not work. For a guy used to car, truck, and motorcycle maintenance this seems weird. Will I need a special hose or adapter or do the bottles come with a special nozzle. It seems gravity will work better than me squeezing a bottle into a little hole, and it will all run back out causing a big mess and some cuss words. Also the oil that came out seemed too thick for this to work? Man, boat maintenance is strange, who designs these things?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but any help is appreciated.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Filling Outdrive with oil

Hello, first time winterizing...

So I am winterizing my outdrive(a 1985 merc alpha), now I'm confusd on filling it back up with oil.

I am told you must fill it from the bottom up, and putting it in the top hole(labelled "vent"), will not work. For a guy used to car, truck, and motorcycle maintenance this seems weird. Will I need a special hose or adapter
Yes, you will, it comes with the pump & costs about ten bucks.....

or do the bottles come with a special nozzle. It seems gravity will work better than me squeezing a bottle into a little hole, and it will all run back out causing a big mess and some cuss words. Also the oil that came out seemed too thick for this to work? Man, boat maintenance is strange, who designs these things?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but any help is appreciated.

Ya fill it from the bottom so that you do not trap any air.......
Pump the gear lube until it comes out of the 'vent' hole, replace the screw & then pull the bottom fitting off & replcae that screw as quickly as possible, the little bit of lost lube is insignificant.....
If you do not do it this way you risk catastrophic failure of the innards.....

 

[capecodder116]

Re: Filling Outdrive with oil

Like Haut said you need a hand pump and it comes with a clear hose and fitting. The pump will screw on to the top of a quart container. You can buy the pump at any parts store I bought one at the local Napa store and another at a KMart.
Very little mess if done properly....just take your time. You want the oil to push the air out the vent hole in the upper section of the drive.

 

[thrasher]

Re: Filling Outdrive with oil

Trust them on this, the first time I tried to fill from the top and I was measuring the oil that I put it. I could not get more than half the amount of oil that the manual said it should take and I wasted over 2 hours.
I then bought the pump that fills it from the bottom and put in the full amount of oil without any problem in 3 minutes. The pump makes your arm ache (it needs a lot of pumps) but it works a treat..

Gary

 

[ziggy]

Re: Filling Outdrive with oil

Pump the gear lube until it comes out of the 'vent' hole, replace the screw & then pull the bottom fitting off & replcae that screw as quickly as possible

yep, putting the top vent screw back in prior to takeing the pump off the bottom is the trick. not much will leak out if yer fairly quick with the bottom screw after pump removal....

 

[wallydc2]

Re: Filling Outdrive with oil

I felt the same way when first started boating, stick around this forum and you will learn alot!!!

 

[Daddy5295]

Re: Filling Outdrive with oil

I bought an outdrive pump kit at West marine about 5 to 6 dollars, very little mess and well worth it.

 

[Rusty Boater]

Re: Filling Outdrive with oil

Remember if you have a outdrive oil resivor located on the side of the engine you have to replace the top plug and keep pumping until it fills the resivor. I cannot spell...

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Filling Outdrive with oil

Remember if you have a outdrive oil resivor located on the side of the engine you have to replace the top plug and keep pumping until it fills the resivor. I cannot spell...

Very good point Rusty Boater!
Heck, i can't spell sometimes either...