Outdrive annual maintenance, yes or no?

[Five O'Clock]

I have a Volvo DP-S outdrive and I've always been under the impression that every 2 years, you should take off your outdrive and inspect the u-joints/seals (unless you have milky residue in the oil, then every year).....

I heard a mechanic talking about a month ago and he said that if you check your oil, and there is no milky residue (water in the oil) that there is no need to take off the outdrive and inspect... meaning there are no leaks, etc... He said that it only hurts to keep taking the outdrive on and off if you dont need to.

I took my boat out of the water a week ago, and checked the stern drive oil and there was no milky-ness to it, and the oil actually looked just as clean as the day I put it in at the beginning of the season.

Just wanted to see what you all thought of the theory and what you think best practices may be.

Thanks!!

 

[Don S]

Re: Outdrive annual maintenance, yes or no?

As stated in the owners manuals and the maintenance schedules from Volvo, it's every 50 hours or 2 years, which ever comes first.
You MUST remove the engine in order to grease the coupler splines and check alignment and make sure the ujoint shaft in the drive isn't leaking. Checking for water is only 1 of the things that is checked while the drive is off.
Since the coupler and alignment are most important, simply because the parts are over $300 and you have to pull the engine to replace it, it's not really not that big a deal to pull the drive each year is it?