I found the leak in my outdrive

[bighorse]

I have been leaking drive lube ever since I bought my boat. In the 14 hours I've put on it since I bought it, I have added over 2 quarts of drive lube. I have finally found evidence of the leak, which appears to be where the upper and lower gear housings mate. I have never dropped a LGH on a Mercruiser (always had OMC) so I'm not sure what might be leaking. Is the gear case open between the two housings? Is there a seal or gasket between the two? I've got the service manual, but it devotes more information to removing the entire outdrive and changing the impeller than it does about how the gear housings seal. Incidentally, the dealer where I bought the boat said they checked the impeller and put it back in because it looked new. Could the leak have been caused by improper re-assembly during that procedure? Thanks.

 

[hmonarch]

I've had both an OMC and a Mercruiser. The outdrives seals are different for the two units. OMC does seal the upper and lower unit with an interior seal around the case between the upper had lower parts of the outdrive. Mercuriser seals internal passages.

With my OMC the outdrive impeller could be changed without pulling apart the two halves of the outdrive. The Mercuriser requires that the upper and lower be pulled apart to replace or inspect the impeller. If the dealer inspected the outdrive impeller and it has been leaking since that time, the dealer put the two halves back together incorrectly.