Mercruiser Alpha one Gen II leaking gear lube.

[Trooper583]

Mercruiser Alpha one Gen II drive

Hey guys, just got in from work and was walking by the boat when i noticed a small puddle of gear lube under the concrete. I wont have time to pull the drive until tomorrow but I wanted to see what you guys thought the source of the leak was. I crawled under the drive and was able to see that it appears the lube is coming from the upper shift linkage. That is to say the shaft that rides in the bell housing and transfers the movement from the cable to the lower unit shift shaft. I definitely appears to be coming from this seal. However, if memory serves me, this shaft passes through the exhaust port of the bell housing and does not have oil behind it. Ideas?

 

[m_steiger]

You are correct that there is no oil present in the exhaust cavity. My best guess is that the oil is leaking from the shift shaft seal on the lower unit itself. Without a proper pressure thats all we can do is guess. Has it been awhile since the boats seen water? Does the outdrive oil reservoir on the engine appear milky?

 

[Trooper583]

The gear lube in the reservoir looks fine and appears to have not dropped at all since last week when I looked everything over. This boat sees water 3-4 times a week and I left it in the water(which I hardly ever do) for three days last week. I replaced the lower shift shaft seals about 2 years ago. However, when looking at it, I don't know how the lune could have migrated upward from the lower seal.

 

[Bt Doctur]

oil dosent leak up. if you see oil from the upper shaft its because the carrier seal is leaking oil into the bellows