Alpha 1 Gen 2 Outdrive questions

[tdappleman]

I've had a mysterious gear oil leak from the reservoir on the inside of the boat. While following the line from the tank down to the transom and outside the boat I find the following after tilting the drive all the way up. In the picture below I see oil coming out of the little weep hole circled in green - this is the best picture I could find and isn't my drive - any ideas why oil would be coming out of this hole? Also - while looking around I see water in the hole on top of the drive in an opening which I circled in blue. The starboard engine doesn't have the oil leak or the water in the hole and I'm very confused. The shop manual doesn't mention the weep hole or what the other hole is at all.
I'd appreciate any insights you all may have!

 

[jhild]

Hi, Travis. Sounds like you have a leak somewhere. The shift shaft seal is a likely suspect. You could have the drive pressure checked to make sure, but a bit of lube from the weep hole is not an uncommon symptom of this problem. Replace the faulty seal and your leak should disappear.

Perhaps someone else will comment about the water on top of the drive. Not sure if the two are related.

 

[Luckydogs]

I had the same leak in a previous boat I owned and it was the shift shaft seal.

 

[280 SeaRay]

Green circle - Looks like Gear Housing Water Drain Hole (Merc service manual 90-818177-3 page 1B-17). Not sure why it would be leaking as I have no experience with this.

Blue Circle looks like the anode bolt hole.... there is another drain hole directly in front of the anode which allows this to drain if memory serves me properly. At time this the drain hole will get a blockage (dirt, etc) that must be cleared. May be why it is holding water.

actual picture(s) of your drive, problems would be helpful in this post. Very hard to determine what is being circled on the non-merc drive posted.

 

[tdappleman]

Thanks everyone - I finally got my camera to cooperate somewhat so here is an actual drive picture of where the oil leak is - right side of drive near where the upper and lower units join.

Thanks for the tip on the drain hole - apparently when they painted the outdrive last they just painted right over it. Cleaned it out and it drains perfectly.

So if it is a shift shaft seal how difficult is that to replace? Can water get into the drive if it is used or should it not be used before it's replaced? Does it require any special tools or can it just be done when the water pumps are replaced (next project)?

 

[arock]

tdappleman,
I have the same weeping of fluid from my drive (at the green circle)- just a little, but enough to annoy. The Sea Ray dealer's service adviser told me not to worry about it unless it gets bad, or I start finding water in the gear oil. It's something I will eventually fix, but no rush.

 

[jhild]

The shift shaft seal is easy to replace. It’s just a little O-ring. But (There's always a "but," isn't there?) in order to get to it, you'll need to pull and split the outdrive. If that's not a project you're comfortable with, it might be time to call the mechanic. If you haven't changed the water pump/impeller lately, you might as well do that while the drive's apart.

 

[tdappleman]

Thanks - I haven't had to pull the drives yet but was planning to do the water pumps this spring to make sure I had fresh parts. I'll just check the gear fluid levels more frequently and make sure no water is getting in. Gotta love this forum - fast help! Thank you all!

 

[sirdave4]

I'm having the same problem. Did it turnout to be the shift shaft seal?

 

[tdappleman]

Holy old thread! I'm not sure what the final problem ended up being - I did a full water pump kit and the leak stopped.