Gear Lube drained out of Gear Housing after removing Lower Unit

[Steamin Seaman]

Hello all,

This is my first post. So please be gentle... So i am in the process of replacing my impeller on my newly bought used boat. i have done this procedure yearly on my old alpha 1 gen 1, but now i have an alpha 1 gen 2. so when i removed the lower unit, gear oil started to drip, this did not happen in my a1g1, so i was surprised to see so much drain. i would say at least a 1/2 quart, maybe more. i was not prepared for it so i scrambled to get something to catch it. my question is, what type of gear lube should i get, and should i be concerned if i am only filling the lower unit and gear housing? thanks,

 

[alldodge]

Howdy

Your A1G1 probably didn't have an oil reservoir bottle. The G2 has a quick connect male/female which disconnects the bottle when the drive is removed. Which side is it leaking, the drive or bell housing? Don't know your drive serial number or year so the links below are the parts that make it up

The drive uses Merc 90W synthetic gear lube. Cheapest place to get it is at wally world

http://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/subassembly/30858/1017/170
http://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/subassembly/30858/1017/50
http://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/subassembly/30858/1017/60

 

[Bt Doctur]

Did you drain the drive first and empty the res bottle if only dropping the lower unit.
Unlike the Alpha when you remove the lower unit from a Alpha GEN II drive the oil does drain from the upper because the driveshaft has been removed.
The Alpha uses the lower gear and a seal so removing the lower on a Alpha the oil does not pour out.Oil will leak from the oil passage hole Thats where the quad seal goes to seal the upper and lower oil passage.

 

[Steamin Seaman]

so, when i removed the lower unit from the drive housing, oil came from where the spline goes to meet the spider gear from the shaft coming through the transom. as i stated before, my A1G1 ( 1986 searay seville II) i believe it was a merc 170, 4 cyl, never leaked. The tech at a great local marine shop said the only difference was the impeller housing was stainless and a little bigger. so i pulled the 4 side bolts, the anodized plate bolt, the bolt from the front and the bolt from the back. the lower unit came out relatively easy, compared to the searay. I now have a 08' tahoe, merc 4.3 6 cyl. A1G2 outdrive. I am going to install the lower unit, replace the gear oil and see if she purrs like a kitten. which brings me to why i changed the impleller in the first place. when i have the ear muffs on, she purrs, however, she wont run for more than 30 seconds on the lake???? any ideas on that??? thanks Bt Dr.and All dodge. I appreciate experience and knowledge!

 

[alldodge]

What I think your saying is you drained the lube, and left the upper section on the boat. When you removed the lower from the upper there was more lube coming out where the drive shaft went it to the upper. If this is the case your still OK. After draining the lube the bottle will continue to drain slowly into the upper until the bottle is empty.



Might need to start another thread on this one to get more lookers but, until then

08' tahoe, merc 4.3 6 cyl. . when i have the ear muffs on, she purrs, however, she wont run for more than 30 seconds on the lake????

How about an engine serial number?
Being an 08 it's probably EFI, but is it TBI or MPI?
What are the symptoms other then it will start fine and run on muffs but when started in the water it dies?
Does in chug or hesitate and slowly dies or just stop quick?
When on muffs is the idle higher or the same?

 

[Steamin Seaman]

so I completely drained the gear oil, and refilled it with almost 2 quarts of new marine lower unit gear oil. i put the muffs on her and she purred for about a half an hour. then sputtered and died. i tried to give it some throttle, then she sputtered and died. i cut off the water and came in to whine about my misfortune with boats... i will start a new thread with the motor information and lower unit information. thanks for all your help...

 

[Steamin Seaman]

just to make sure. the plastic reservoir on the engine bracket that says drive gear lube, that is the same lube for my lower unit, correct?

 

[alldodge]

Yes, same stuff.