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

[xSOVxMUFASA]

Hello All,
New boater here. My Ole lady and I just bought a boat on Friday. It's a 1988 Sea Ray Seville with a 4.3L Mercury Mercruiser. Spent the day cleaning it up and when I got back I noticed an oil leak. Never saw a leak before and the previous owner hadn't seen it either. It just happened as of today from what I can tell. It was clean before this and was very well taken care of.
How it happened?:
While cleaning and testing some of the lights/audio the boat was accidentally started with no water running through it but was immediately shut off. Later in the evening I noticed an oil leak coming from the underside of the motor/prop area. Research I've done says it's the "lower and upper shoe" of the "shift shaft" and its the seals that are leaking. I have no idea what I'm doing here. My guess is that the seal inside there was damaged maybe? We bought this with the intention of using it for the 4th. Anyone know anything about this? Any suggestions?

I appreciate the help!!

Any questions please ask and I'll help as best I can.

PLEASE SEE IMAGES BELOW..

 

[alldodge]

If its leaking from above then its coming from then most likely its coming from the drive shaft bellows. The above area is where the exhaust exits. The shift shaft goes up where the shift cable and drive shaft come together. If the bellows has oil in it then the upper drive shaft seal is leaking. Could also be the motor is pumping oil

Pull the drive and have a look
https://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/subassembly/30870/2203/60

 

[achris]

1. There is no way the previous owner didn't know about it.
2. Did you take the boat for a test drive before buying?
3. There's a nut missing at the front of the drive. Maybe someone who didn't know what they were doing has been working on this boat.
4. You might be able to use it on the 4th, but it won't be 'of July'...
5. If the boat has been stored with the drive tilted fully up (a no-no anyway), then it's possible the lower seals of the upper drive shaft are leaking and you're seeing it coming out of the upper shift shaft passage.

You need to remove the drive (not difficult) and do a pressure test (also not difficult). If you have a modicum of mechanical ability you should be able to get that far. Then if you take the drive to a shop you won't get ripped off....

Chris....

 

[dubs283]

This is all good advice and I support it.

Reason for the post is I don't see a lot of oyster white drive/transom assemblies and looks like you've got a sea ray branded alpha system. Kinda cool and nostalgic and I would ask that you please repair your vessel properly and continue to maintain it, cheers

 

[xSOVxMUFASA]

This is all good advice and I support it.

Reason for the post is I don't see a lot of oyster white drive/transom assemblies and looks like you've got a sea ray branded alpha system. Kinda cool and nostalgic and I would ask that you please repair your vessel properly and continue to maintain it, cheers

It is a Sea Ray branded system. We will be repairing it properly and taking very good care of it. It's a crying shame that we have run into this issues a day before we are supposed to take it to the lake.

 

[xSOVxMUFASA]

This is all good advice and I support it.

Reason for the post is I don't see a lot of oyster white drive/transom assemblies and looks like you've got a sea ray branded alpha system. Kinda cool and nostalgic and I would ask that you please repair your vessel properly and continue to maintain it, cheers

Is this system rare or something? What's special about the oyster white drive/transom assemblies?

 

[dubs283]

Best laid plans amarite?!

It is unfortunate you're having this issue but in fact it's a good thing to have noticed it before you break something really expensive. Stay cool knowing you had zero effect causing this issue, this is just the nature of boating and alphas all need resealing at some point. Locate and fix the leaks and as mentioned keep up with routine maintenance

 

[alldodge]

Is this system rare or something? What's special about the oyster white drive/transom assemblies?

It isn't done anymore but back in the day Searay did it for the looks. It is a Merc Alpha 1 drive that has been painted with decals. There is a guy here with a real nice 21 ft Pachanga

 

[Scott06]

Is this system rare or something? What's special about the oyster white drive/transom assemblies?

Not rare sea ray just painted alpha one gen one drives white no different than the black painted merc branded ones

 

[dubs283]

Is this system rare or something? What's special about the oyster white drive/transom assemblies?

Sea ray and mercury marine are owned by Brunswick Corp. Yeah, the bowling people

In the 80's for a few years sea ray and merc teamed up to brand some mercury alpha systems and outboards under the sea ray name for a few (hundred?thousand?) boats. I've seen a half dozen or so and worked on a couple of them, they are no different than any other mcm or merc outboard, just painted oyster white with sea ray badging

 

[dubs283]

On another note there is a 1988 wellcraft in the shop with an oem bravo one coupled to a gen iv (?) 454. Really neat to see an original bravo first year. Unknown if it survived the premium blend gear oil debacle or if it's a replacement, but still kinda cool.

Sorry, for getting off topic but I do really like mercury marine. Great company that has always (like 99.9% of the time) come through for support. And a great product as well, enjoy

 

[xSOVxMUFASA]

I really REALLY appreciate everyone's input here. So all in all, I'm going to have to just disassemble this bad boy, replace some seals, and we should be good? That seems to be the long short of it? I'm sorry for all the novice questions or dumb statements lol. We are new to boats for the most part.

 

[dubs283]

So all in all, I'm going to have to just disassemble this bad boy, replace some seals, and we should be good?

Yep, but start with removing the drive first.

There is a lot of good/helpful info in the stickies, top of forum page for your engine/drive package. Take the time to read up a little before you grab the tools

 

[xSOVxMUFASA]

Yep, but start with removing the drive first.

There is a lot of good/helpful info in the stickies, top of forum page for your engine/drive package. Take the time to read up a little before you grab the tools

Is this typically a one day kind of job? Or is it one of those pesky sitting on the bench for a couple days sorta things lol. Looking at diagrams it seems like a fairly easy disassemble/reassemble gig.

 

[dubs283]

Don't recall flat rate but a guy with the right parts, tools and equipment can easily remove an alpha, tear down and clean completely, inspect, reseal, assemble, pressure test, fill with lube and re install in about 3-4 hours. Without distraction of course.

Distraction being the inevitable finding other issues concerning the boat repair. There are some maintenance/inspection items you need to address with the drive off. Gimbal housing, bearing, bellows, alignment inspection/condition of coupler and many other items. As I said, read up on the info in the stickies, hopefully not too overwhelming for the average handy fella but for me it's darn near second nature at this point, keep us posted with your progress/questions

 

[alldodge]

Everything is easy for those that have done it a few times and have the necessary tools. A first timer needs to read up on what is needed to do the task.

Pull the drive first and find out what is needed then we can provide more thoughts. To pull, move throttle handle full forward gear. Placing it in FWD moves the shift foot facing FOR and AFT so the drive can be removed without bending the foot. Remove the trim cylinder and six nuts holding drive.

You can do repair in a day the first time provided its a shaft seal or other that does not need more experiece or special tools. Will need a rolling torque wrench to adjust preload to replace drive shaft seal.

 

[Scott06]

Is this typically a one day kind of job? Or is it one of those pesky sitting on the bench for a couple days sorta things lol. Looking at diagrams it seems like a fairly easy disassemble/reassemble gig.

Get a factory shop manual for your drive and engine. If you can wrench manual has great info on all repairs. Might need a few special tools like alignment bar, the wrench to get the nut off the outdrive to replace seal, rig up a pressure tester

 

[dubs283]

Not rare

Since 1939 mercury has been in business and for two years they branded their motor/drives on another company. Both companies (yes, under the same parent corp) are still in business today.

Rare, indeed. I implore you to find, seek, take all of your time to find one still operational irl.

 

[Scott06]

Since 1939 mercury has been in business and for two years they branded their motor/drives on another company. Both companies (yes, under the same parent corp) are still in business today.

Rare, indeed. I implore you to find, seek, take all of your time to find one still operational irl.

Seriously go pick a fight with someone else yes maybe with the white paint and sea Ray stickers not so many but under that it is an alpha one drive which parts are plentiful and s loads were made

Also my neighbor has a sea Ray branded outboard on his 80s vintage bowrider ….

 

[dubs283]

it is an alpha one drive which parts are plentiful and s loads were made

Never said otherwise

my neighbor has a sea Ray branded outboard on his 80s vintage bowrider ….

Pics or it never happened