O ring on alpha 1 missing

[johnzonh]

Hey Guys Conflicting info and I need input. Dropped my a1 lower unit to do the impeller and being older with the o ring slot on the shaft noticed it was missing. Should I go fetch a new o ring or leave it. 1987 alpha one. Noticed a bit of oil sliding down the shaft when I pulled it down too. Normal? No big deal if I gotta drop it again

Thanks

John

 

[ziggy]

Re: O ring on alpha 1 missing

i woulda thought an '87 would have not even had the groove.
but it your talking about the o ring it this pic. (at the bottom of the spines, under the blue spline grease

then you don't need to use it. i obviously did when i did the pic. but in the last 5+ years i've not used it. i leave the slot empty (no o ring installed) w/o ramifications. the pic is of a 72 or 75 mc-1 lower drive shaft w/preload pin. 72 i think.
best reason i can give for not needing it is that if ya get a new lower drive shaft, it comes minus the groove. so ya can't use it since there's no where to put it.

if ya got oil leaking ya may have a leak. the drive is a sealed unit. to find out if ya have a leak, remove the gear lub and pressure test the drive. it should hold 13-15psi for ever.

 

[johnzonh]

Re: O ring on alpha 1 missing

i woulda thought an '87 would have not even had the groove.
but it your talking about the o ring it this pic. (at the bottom of the spines, under the blue spline grease

then you don't need to use it. i obviously did when i did the pic. but in the last 5+ years i've not used it. i leave the slot empty (no o ring installed) w/o ramifications. the pic is of a 72 or 75 mc-1 lower drive shaft w/preload pin. 72 i think.
best reason i can give for not needing it is that if ya get a new lower drive shaft, it comes minus the groove. so ya can't use it since there's no where to put it.

if ya got oil leaking ya may have a leak. the drive is a sealed unit. to find out if ya have a leak, remove the gear lub and pressure test the drive. it should hold 13-15psi for ever.

Ok thanks. I was quite impressed that everything was in such good shape as I got the boat used. The oil leak I saw was not much but the o ring had me wigged out. Impeller was only set and no cracks. Looking forward to getting on the water soon. That spline grease ya got is kick ***! Does it glow in the dark??? Lol

 

[ktbarrentine]

Re: O ring on alpha 1 missing

+1 on Ziggy's post. I, too, have been leaving the O-ring out ever since I got schooled about it on here, and have had no issues (I check the lower seal in that region of the upper very well before reassembling the drive to make sure it is doing its job). BTW, I have a 1990 Alpha-1 and it has the groove. (guess it depends on the boat dealer/manufacturer and how many drives he had to install before he ran out of Alpha-1s before they moved on to gen II in 91.) IDK