Water in Lower Unit

[jfmil355]

Greetings,
I just went to change the oil in the lower unit of my '69 Evinrude 85 HP Starflight and discovered a chocolate milk looking fluid. I positive that this must be water. Anyone have some ideas where this can be coming from? The last time I changed the lower unit oil was about 2 years ago & I dont remember see this then.

Thanks

 

[rscholar]

Re: Water in Lower Unit

Water seems to be able to get into the lower units, for various reasons. Because of that, I change my lower unit lube twice a season, not every two years. Back when, I use to use the tube type lube, but now I really like using the little quart hand pump type...very easy to push out the old, and replace with the new lube.

 

[carholme]

Re: Water in Lower Unit

355;

Do you have a parts listing and service manual for your engine?

The first thing to do is drain the existing oil, replace it and run it again on muffs just to get it warm and then drain it again just to provide the lower unit with a good flush. Ensure that you don't see any cracks in the casing, After the second draining, replace the seals on the drain and fill plugs and fill it with oil again and operate it in a tub or on the water.

After a decent run, drain just a bit of oil off to see if water is still getting in. If it is, then you will have to drop the LU and investigate seals.

Alternatively, you could just remove the LU and do a pressure test to show any area of leaking.


Gerry

 

[jonesg]

Re: Water in Lower Unit

I had the same problem, mechanic said $350 to do a seal job.
Cost me $1 to fix.

#1 cause is re-using the little seals on the drain plug screws. Replace every time.
Try that and give it a run, check the oil again.
iBoats sells those seals 50 in a bag for under $20 last time I looked.
Its safe practice to change oil every fall in colder climates, water in the oil will freeze and crack the gearbox like an eggshell.

 

[timmyjane]

Re: Water in Lower Unit

Do a pressure test. Then you can see the leak.

 

[dehydrated]

Re: Water in Lower Unit

should always get in the habit of draining and filling at least every fall as part of the winterizing catagory it could save you big problems later frozen gear cases cause big bucks gaskets and oil priceless!!!

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Water in Lower Unit

All good recommendations. Change the screw seals first and run it for a while, then recheck. If you still have water in the gear oil, see a marine service shop. A good shop will do both a vacuum and a pressure test on the lower unit. Has to hold both vacuum and pressure for 20 minutes on each test. If it doesn't it's best to have the lower unit resealed.

 

[Phoster]

Re: Water in Lower Unit

Jonseg, would you mind looking at my post here http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=476438&p=3222836#post3222836 and let me know if I could expect that price for my job? Thank you very much, Chris.