Losing Gear Oil

[HavingFun]

I am losing gear lube in my Alpha Gen II drive. On Saturday the alarm went off and the remote gearlube reservoir was almost empty. I was close to the marina and took it straight there. The boat is in rack storage. The next day I looked at the drive and could not see any oil leaking or traces. I filled it up the next day and stayed close to the marina. The oil did not go down at first. We ran it about 2 hours in total and it did go down about 1/8 of an inch.

Any suggestions? Should I take it straight to the marina service department? Wait a few days and see if I can spot the leak? Pull the prop to see if there is fishing line in there?

Thanks

 

[jwfoster4]

Check your transom area for oil stains around the water line. If its coming out of the prop seal, it will just dissipate in the water and you may not see the leak.

An internal problem in the outdrive will cause the oil to heat up and escape through the path of least resistance. If there is no release for the pressurized oil, the overfill bottle can actually swell up and blow.

 

[Dave S]

If the oil had recently been changed, the first drop in oil you see could be normal. It is not out of the ordinary for air to get trapped in the drive during a fluid change. As the air slowly works it's way out, then it is repalced by oil from the reservior, thus the oil level will drop. This happens on my Bravo 3 drive all the time after a a gear oil change. But if it continues to drop after this last fill, you need to get the drive pressure tested since you probably have a leak. Pressure testing is sometimes the only way to find a leak.

 

[HavingFun]

The problem continues. The drive has been pulled twice and pressured tested and they can't find a problem. I guess that I need to find another mechanic.

 

[tphinney]

remember that a good mechanic doesn't mean he/she is in-expensive. find one that takes good care of your boat and pay him what ever he wants. it will endup being cheaper than paying for the same repair multiple times.

 

[Dave S]

As long as you don't have water in the drive oil itself when you change it (it will look milky) then the drive will be just fine. Those reservoirs are there to prevent you from running the oil low in the outdrive itself. If you talk to an older expereinced mechanic they can tell you how outdrives used to fail in the past before they had the reservoirs. The reason was is you had no real way of knowing if you were losing gear lube and by the time you figured it out it was because your drive failed. Now you know you have fluid in the drive at all times and you also have a sensor that will trigger an alarm when it goes too low. I know this is annoying to you but understanding the purpose of the reservoir will maybe put you at ease on the situation. If it makes you feel any better, the Alpha drive I had my 210 Sundeck used to "use" oil too and a pressure test showed nothing was leaking. I just resigned myself to add a little bit of oil a few times during the seaon and didn't worry about it.

Dave

Dave

 

[HavingFun]

remember that a good mechanic doesn't mean he/she is in-expensive. find one that takes good care of your boat and pay him what ever he wants. it will endup being cheaper than paying for the same repair multiple times.

I agree - I'm still looking for that mechanic. I used the guys at the marina since my boat is stored in the rack.

Any suggestions for someone in the Grand Rapids MI area?

 

[highslice]

I had the same issue with my 270. The dealer pressure tested it, no leak. They left it under pressure all night, no leak. But we knew there was a leak because I used over a quart of lube in a two day period.

They started taking the drive apart and found the source of the leak: A groove in the prop shaft that ran under the prop seal. Seems the lube wouldn't come out until it was at operating temp. New prop shaft and no more missing gear lube:smt038. I have put 12 hours on the boat without have to add lube.

Point: Sometimes the pressure test is not enough and it takes a mechanic who really wants to figure it out to get to the root cause of the issue.

 

[SR Tech]

If you find that the drive pressure tests fine but the bottle still goes down...

On the inner transom assembly, right below the Raw water pickup hose is your fitting that sends the lube to the drive. It goes through the gimbal housing on the outside first, then through the inside transom plate.

The end for the hose on the gimbal housing side is made out of a very cheap plastic, that tends to break on the least bit of pressure.

Check that first, you should be able to turn the drive all the way to port and see it with a flash light. If intact then proceed to where it connects to the back of the bell housing.

 

[HavingFun]

If you find that the drive pressure tests fine but the bottle still goes down...

On the inner transom assembly, right below the Raw water pickup hose is your fitting that sends the lube to the drive. It goes through the gimbal housing on the outside first, then through the inside transom plate.

The end for the hose on the gimbal housing side is made out of a very cheap plastic, that tends to break on the least bit of pressure.

Check that first, you should be able to turn the drive all the way to port and see it with a flash light. If intact then proceed to where it connects to the back of the bell housing.

Thanks - I will check that out.

 

[HavingFun]

The saga continues.... I checked where the oil hose passes through the transom and didn't see any sign of oil. But I did see some oil at the weep hole right under where the lower unit attaches to the upper unit. I have never taken a drive apart but was thinking about doing it this fall to replace the impeller. The dealer thinks it is the shift shaft seal and will replace it for $350. Does that seem reasonable?