'05 Sea Ray 180BR Leaking Gear Oil

[MT_Keg]

Hi all,

I just acquired an '05 Sea Ray 180; I did a through inspection of the boat prior to purchase. I specifically checked to see if the lower unit had any leaks; it was clean. I pulled the trigger on the boat yesterday after a test drive. I have the boat parked in my garage and now I have identified a leak (see attached pictures). I remember checking the previous owner's driveway for an oil leak spot; driveway was clean and so was the lower unit.

There maybe two issues:

1. leak from the weep hole
2. leak from the lower gear assembly

I personally haven't taken it out on the water yet. What would be the cause of this leak? What are your suggestions for repair?

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Nater Potater]

I believe oil coming from the weep hole would indicate the seal directly below the water pump (#20 seen below). A fairly easy replacement. I've been finding these sold as an assembly with #19 and 21. 'Beats having to drive out the old seal from the carrier.
Could possibly be from the shift shaft seal, #36 (not as likely). Also, if someone was in there recently to change the water pump impeller, they could have lost the tiny o-ring on the oil passage between the upper and lower half. That's #7. Any one requires dropping the lower unit. Probably the worst of it (for me, at least) is having to drain and refill the gearbox. I hate getting oil everywhere!

 

[JHornsby3]

Looks like what I had about a month back. When I replaced the impeller on my starboard, I left out the O ring between the upper and lower. I got it filled and ran it to make sure everything was good. Raised the drive and had oil leaking. Popped the lower off and sure enough, it wasn't glued in. Looked in the small parts bag and there she was.

I only drained enough oil to get the lower off, cleaned up and the O ring glued on. Then popped it back on and filled the drive.

If that is the case or could be. It was run for a sea trial. So you might have water in there as well. Might be best to drain it anyway and make sure there is no water in there. Even churned up, it doesn't take long for it to separate. And it's cheap at Wallie's.

 

[MT_Keg]

Thank you all for your feedback. I guess one key point is that I had the lower unit in the trailer position when this all was occurring. Just for curiosity sake I lowered the unit down to see if the leak would persist; could this be the problem? Regardless, I plan on taking it to a mechanic to take a look at it. These are the joys of owning my first sterndrive.

Thank you all again.

 

[JHornsby3]

Save the money and do it yourself. All you need is an allen to fit the fin anode and a 5/8" socket and wrench.

Put the drive in forward gear.

Loosen the front nut and back bolt.

Loosen the side nuts

And lower the lower unit.

You can get it down enough to see if the O ring is there or missing. If it's missing, then your going to need to unhook the speedo tube at the front of the drive before lowering the unit to take it apart. And this can be done at the same time your draining the drive, as you want it tilted up a little to get all the lube to drain out of the lower.

A boat buck saved is a boat buck you can spend on something else.

 

[BillK2632]

Other possibility is #35, shift shaft seal - another $20 part that is easy to replace. Check the oil quad seal between the upper / lower and the oil seal carrier (cone thing under the water pump). These are the most common oil leaks and all are very easy DIY fixes - you do have to remove the drive.

 

[Nater Potater]

If it turns out to be the #36 shift shaft seal, be very careful before pulling the seal carrier (#35) and shift shaft to have the outdrive clamped in such a way as to keep the vertical shaft vertical, the outdrive in Forward, and only turn the prop backwards (or not at all). Once the shift shaft is lifted free, there's nothing holding the shift pawl in place, other than gravity. Once the new seal is installed on the shift shaft, lower it back down while it's in the Forward position so as to engage the shift pawl. It the shift pawl gets dislocated, it's complete teardown of the lower unit to get the pawl back in place. Just take your time...

 

[JHornsby3]

I have found that the rubber "trucker" bungies work great to hold it in gear. Put the drive in forward gear and be sure it's locked tight by holding the prop tight. Then wrap the bungie around one blade and put the hooks to the plate so it stays locked up tight.

Everybody likes to be on the boats. But nobody wants to help work on them.