Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

[craze1cars]

1992 Alpha 1 Gen II. Removed the drive to check engine alignment and gimbal bearing, grease splines, inspect, etc. All looks good except there's a puddle of maybe 2 ounces of gear lube laying in the driveshaft bellows. Definitely is gear lube (slightly mixed with some seeped gimbal bearing grease), and there is no sign of water intrusion.

Is this a problem? All season never had to add any oil to the drive, it was right in range on the dipstick the whole time and clean/clear as it should be. Looking back toward the U-joints I see no sign of an obvious leak around the area where the shaft comes through, but I can't imagine where else it may have come from...

Runs fine and looks good otherwise, just doing my normal maintenance at end of season.

What do you experts think before I reattach the drive? Is this fairly normal or a sign of some pending problem? Thank you!

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

7. Was there any gear lube in the bellows when you removed the drive? If so, the input shaft seal is leaking and should be fixed before reinstalling the drive.

Whoops. Should have read this clip from Don's winterizing tips first. Probably answers my question right there...

If anyone else has further thoughts on this, please advise. Otherwise I'll check the seal closer.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

While you Might get by for awhile, seeins that the Gen.II has the Reservoir,............

If the Lube is in the Bellows,........
There's Only 1 place it Can come from,.........
And,.......
It Will get Worse.........

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

OK....called a few local marinas and chatted, explained the situation. All agree the input shaft seal is leaking Marina # 1 is recommending resealing the entire drive upper and lower for $500 to $600 in labor and another $200 in parts, they'll do impeller and everything else while they're in there, then pressure test the whole thing. I frankly don't think I need this much done. Impeller is only one year old (I did it last winter) and I have no signs of leaks anywhere else, no water intrusion, clean lube, no functional problems.

Call #2 was more what I was hoping for....estimated maybe $30 worth of seals/orings, said it MIGHT have a grooved shaft which might add another $100-ish, should be about an hour of labor if I have the drive off already and I can haul it in. He said it's quick and easy. Obviously I like this guy better.

Option 3 is that I could tackle it myself. Marina # 2 service guy actually recommended I do this...he said if I know how to pull a drive I should be able to do this seal too. Probably true...my Clymer manual (no toilet paper jokes please, I'm just a hobbiest d) makes it look simple enough other than the fact that I don't have the proper tool to remove that big retainer thing. Obviously someone else has removed this ring without the proper tool once before...it has hammer marks all over it and one tab is broken off.

Any tips/tricks if I just do this myself? Can you recommended way to get the ring out without damage? Get the proper tool, I know....where can I buy it and how much $$$ is that? Wrong-tool tricks are always appreciated if they're relatively safe. I have a host of automotive mechanics tools in the garage...

Thoughts on marinas 1 and 2 recommendations?

I might just bring it in to marina #2 but they're too backed up right now with winterizing. I can wait till mid winter when they're slow....

Thanks again!

 

[tommays]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

i have gone to the local night school and taken the 44 hour night class and resealed 2 GEN II drives


1. if the seals are orginal they are rock hard now compared to new seals and all the shafts will have some level of groveing

2. The biggest issue on the yoke seal is reseting the rolling torque to 6 to 10 in pd

A good dial torque wrench is a MUST to do this part

3 You will need a torch wrench if the drive has been in salt water with NO real idea what will come out and what will break

Both drives i did were stuck in compleatly different places AND the TRAILERED drive had more things stuck

So you need 2 torque wrenchs

the tool to losen the upper nut

the tool to losen the lower nut

a puller that will fit to pull the lower bearing carrier

a few seal drivers ect


Tommays

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

Thanks Tommays, but I think you're explaining a full reseal. Which I would not do myself....nor do I think I need right now. But I'm seeking such opinions, so if anyone disagrees please share your reasoning.

If right now I just wanted to replace my only leaking seal...the uppermost one where the input yoke goes into the driveshaft housing, the one that's apparently seeping into my driveshaft bellows...I don't think I need all of that stuff for just that one seal, would I?

FWIW, this is a trailered, freshwater only boat. And as I said, it clearly has been apart once before...

Seems to me I'd just need the one big bearing retainer "spanner" tool to get the seal in question replaced, right? Like this one: http://www.prestostore.com/catalog.php/pmcparts/pd39238

Or am I misunderstanding something? Thanks to all for helping out the little ignorant guy...

 

[tommays]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

If the seals are orginal the rubber is getting HARD on ALL of them

As they get HARD they leak AND grove the shafts MORE

The difference between a new and old seal is a :^


The only hard thing is the rolling torque on the yoke a wrench is at least 160 dollars to set it


If i could do it again i would have put in MORE new parts and not done things like reused the yoke because it looked good It was still Had 11 years of wear in the seal area

Tommays

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERC...tegoryZ26455QQihZ017QQitemZ270044550813QQrdZ1

Well now here's a mighty intriguing option...considering my slightly bent/cracked skeg, mild corrosion/paint issues, and 14 years of general wear/tear. I can buy one of these outright, bolt it on, have a brand new unit ready to roll...then sell my 100% perfectly functional used complete outdrive on Ebay to some other person who wants it for maybe $500? Pipedream or reality?

I'm curious of anyone has had any experiences good or bad with these SEI units? Total junk or worth considering for an older runabout that's only worth $3K or $4K and run in small freshwater lakes?

Thanks again! Just tossing around different options...

Their 3 year warranty sounds too good to be true....

"Press Release -- September 18th, 2006

Sterndrive Engineering Adopts Three Year Fault-free Warranty

Clearwater, Florida -- Sterndrive Engineering Inc. (SEI) announced today that the warranty on it's sterndrives has been changed from a one year limited warranty to a three year fault-free warranty. "We believe this new warranty is the best in the sterndrive industry" said Greg Pickren, President SEI. "Nobody that we know of offers a three year fault-free warranty on sterndrives" he added. "After selling tens of thousands of these drives over the past three years and doing extensive testing at our research facility, we are very confident in the product. It's only natural at this point to extend our warranty” stated Justin Webb, SEI's General Manager. "Our drives have always been the most economical. Now they also have a great warranty." added Ericka Kegg, SEI's Sales Manager. The three year fault-free warranty covers any damage to the drive that requires it to be repaired or replaced including failures resulting from lack of oil, fishing line, impact, neglect, and other abuse.

Sterndrive Engineering is the largest aftermarket supplier of sterndrives in the world. For more information on the company call (727) 461-0811. For more information on the new warranty policy and online shopping visit www.sterndrive.cc."

Maybe better I start a new topic on this company.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

I see either Options 1 or 4,........

Your Drive is Due for a Total Reseal,.......
The Tools to do it even remotely Right will cost nearly as much as Option 1,............


And,..... I've neither Heard or Seen Anything Bad about those SEI drives,...... Iboats was selling them..... Cheap.......

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

Given the fact that my problem is very minor right now with just one seeping seal that looses 2 ounces of oil in a year which is fully contained in the bellows...I think I'll reinstall as-is and just keep my eye on oil level 'till I pull it at the end of next season.

At the first sign of a single drop of oil in the water (I HATE polluting), or if the bellow oil puddle is significantly larger next year...then I will likely look very seriously at trying one of these SEI units. Afterall, if I'm going to pay for complete reseal at $700 to $800-ish, PLUS I might as well do the skeg repair, PLUS who-knows-what they might find internally when they pull it apart, PLUS it really needs to be stripped and repainted anyways...

Heck, here we have $1,400 brand new drives available with a 3 year warranty, MINUS the value of my sold used drive?

Just seems like a better and cheaper solution to me unless I hear more consistent reports of SEIs being junk. Haven't heard that yet. I've found a few that have reported problems, but they were well handled by SEI and are still satisfied customers.

For my inland boat that never goes to the open sea, never sits in the water even overnight (always trailered and stored in a garage), is always on the same lake running around with friends on other boats, and is never more than 1/2 mile from the nearest shore, I think I'd be willing to try the generic drive on my beater boat...but if the old one still spins freely, shifts well, and isn't leaking into the water, I'm gonna just change oil and ignore the problem for a bit...

Thanks to both of you for letting me bounce this around...I have always learned a lot here...

 

[Don S]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

Your gear lube won't leak from the bellows to the water unless the bellows is bad, and that's another expensive proposition. But it will leak into the bilge thru the gimbal bearing after the gear lube washes all the grease out of the gimbal bearing.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Some gear lube in driveshaft bellows...problem?

Thank you Don...I sort of figured that's where it would end up if it went anywhere. All bellows were replaced by me year before last (not so expensive since I did the labor myself, actually with some guidance from you if I do recall...but a knuckle bleeding and not-so-fun experience)...fortunately they are holding strong and all are still in like-new condition. Will keep an eye on the gimbal bearing and oil seepage with my annual drive-removal inspections, and I have a clear line of site to the bilge every time I throw my battery switch. So if any oil shows up there I'll know the problem has reached the point of no return and will then tackle necessary repairs.

Appreciate the input.

Forgot to mention my option # 5...giving careful consideration to a trade-in on a new boat in the next year or two. Which would make all problems (temporarily) solved...8)