Gear Lube Overflow

[240da]

Anybody have this problem? I altered our lube bottle cap (so as to not over-pressurize the bottle) to allow it to be fully vented (removed the one way rubber valve), closed that hole and left the very small (about 1/16") dia. hole in the cap open to act as a vent.

Even with the lube about half way between "ADD" and "FULL" (when cold) I get overflow out of the small oil vent hole and this is with a Simrek drive shower installed.

It seems to rise more than last year and I wonder if I have some trapped air inside the drive. I drained and refilled at winterizing last fall and, of course, always fill from the bottom and follow the Merc. procedure.

Drive seems to run smoothly and have not noticed any discoloration or oil loss (always seem to need about 1 oz. over the summer).

Thanks for you thoughts!

 

[skibum]

Anybody have this problem? I altered our lube bottle cap (so as to not over-pressurize the bottle) to allow it to be fully vented (removed the one way rubber valve), closed that hole and left the very small (about 1/16") dia. hole in the cap open to act as a vent.

Stupid question here. Why were you worried about over pressure in the bottle? Mine has the valve and there are no problems. What problem were you having?

Michael

 

[240da]

I read many horror stories about exploding bottles and lube all over the bilge, also when we first got our boat we seemed to be using some gear lube (more than I thought it should) and I noticed fairly high bottle pressure. I figured it might be stressing the seals (causing lube loss) and sure enough the lube loss all but stopped when I altered the cap -- except for the occasional overflow as mentioned.

 

[Woody]

I've got twins in my boat. Just recently I started finding some drive oil on top the cap and reservoir of port side. I switched caps from port to starboard and now the starboard side does it. I see nothing wrong with the cap but apparently it has a problem so I will replace it.