Leak from "Lower/upper shoe"??? HELP!

[Scott06]

Never said otherwise

Pics or it never happened

Rare indeed …

Go be numb nuts somewhere else

 

[Searay205]

I agree it probably needs repair. No doubt you have a freshwater boat. Last 4th of July I was going out on my buddy Rinker with bravo 3. hadn't been out in years. I started it on hose and it Leaked oil out the outdrive bad behind the prop. I told him we aint going anywhere. He said yea we are I said you smoke $4k? outdrive, he said I don't give a ****. I let it run for a while and I guess the seal swelled it stopped leaking and hasn't leaked since!!
If you want to TRY at your own risk check level in gear drive. start engine on hose. let it run 15 minutes. did you loose level? if not you may get away with it, my buddy sure did. If seals sit along time they take a set, getting lube going to them and they will swell.

If you do go into outdrive ensure you upgrade the intermediate shift shaft bushing. very easy.

Do you have remote lube gear reservoir? If so I use the boat today and keep an eye on it. I had a boat with no lube reservoir for 30 years, back when men were men.

 

[Searay205]

A first timer that is mechanically inclined doing this job 8 solid hours or 16 hours total. I did seal replacement on an alpha 1 and studied the manual many times before I started. In my opinion you have zero chance without a manual. For example. you can't even split the drives if you do not know there is a bolt under the trim tab that needs removed. Again not hard but you need to know it needs removed. Some dummy did leave the nut off the front stud, probably during a water pump replacement. Your going to need a spud bar to break the crown nut loose on the outdrive. Or some bar that will span the crown nut and catch both sides. Again not hard just a bunch of little tricks. I did mine (previous boat) and it ran 15 years after the seal replacement and never leaked again. Now I have a bad habit in that I use my boat so all the seals and electrical stay either lubed or dry (engine heat). Mine was 88 in salt water and I replaced the bellows in 2013? it was a complete waste, original bellows perfect soft and pliable. Again how was your boat stored? enclosed, outdrive down. I only recommend Mercruiser/Quicksilver elastomers, shift cables etc. I been burned with aftermarket shift cable bellows that ripped and screwed my cable only to find the Mercruiser shift cable bellows were longer than the cheap aftermarket crap that saved me $2.35 can ended up costing me $150 for a cable kit and sweating my ASSS off in houston miserable heat installing.