outdrive leak

[Darrendude]

Ok fella's I have had my lower unit off about four times now lol I have replaced the water pump, shift shaft bushing, and some o-rings. My original problem was oil dripping from the little hole at the bottom of the lower housing. I have fixed that problem.<br /> <br />New problem, I unscrew the fill vent screw and milky oil comes out a bit, If I unscrew the bottom fill hole oil looks perfect. Doesnt water in the outdrive go to the bottom? What could be causing water up top and not below?

 

[Don S]

Re: outdrive leak

Are reusing those paper gaskets on vent and drain plugs? If so, that may be your problem. They should be replaced everytime you remove the plug.<br />A vacuum and pressure check may find your leak.

 

[KaGee]

Re: outdrive leak

You are right... water travels south after sitting and separating. Certainly if you had a major leak the rest of the oil would be discolored. Maybe the upper vent screw is leaking slightly??

 

[Darrendude]

Re: outdrive leak

I use rubber o-rings for both plugs. Just thought it was strange that the lower oil looked clean and the upper looked milky. I pumped more oil in from the bottom and in the process , the milky oil came out the top. Not much milky oil , maybe 3 or 4 oz. then it looked clean.

 

[mlslocks]

Re: outdrive leak

I can't help with your water problem. But Darren your boat is preaty cool. Nice job.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: outdrive leak

could be cause your not usining the correct seals on the vent and drain. unless you have purchased the new style plugs that use an oring. the older ones used a gasket. they were black paper then orange and now blue. probably with a price increase with every color change.

 

[Darrendude]

Re: outdrive leak

Thanks mlslocks, Rod bolt I just use regular o- rings you can buy at a hardware store, is this a NO_NO? I just noticed this problem. Before my problem was water in the lower. I end up just changing the OD oil after every use now till I figure this out. Its only a couple dollars for fresh oil each time.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: outdrive leak

worth a try with a set of the new blue gaskts from merc. 50 cents or so apiece.

 

[trog100]

Re: outdrive leak

not 100% sure on this but i think an emulsified water oil mix can contain a fair amount of air.. so if water leaked in the top of the drive it would probably stay up there in its emulsified form till it had time to seperate from the oil and slowly sink to the bottom..<br /><br />trog100

 

[Don S]

Re: outdrive leak

The problem with using orings, is there is no lip to keep the oring in the groove, and the edge will squeeze out and allow water in. Merc did make some plugs for the newer drives with orings, but the plug had a groove for the oring. <br />If you don't have the special plugs, then get the blue gaskets rodbolt mentioned. The Mercruiser PN is 12-19183........They are a heck of a lot cheaper than a drive.

 

[Darrendude]

Re: outdrive leak

Thanks for the info guys I will try to get some paper gaskets and see what happens.