A Little Advice On Getting My Outdrive Back On Please!

[Mark A. J.]

Well, I can get it on, but I am uncertain about one thing. I am new to this (new boat owner) and have had my Mercruiser Alpha One Gen 2 outdrive off to align my engine. I got that far based on recommendations in another post on this forum and some YouTube videos. The engine is aligned and I was putting the drive back on but I bumped the small valve on the right side between the top two bolts. This caused green fluid (gear oil I assume) to leak out.

It was at this point that I realized all the videos I had watched had been for Gen 1 drives which don’t seem to have this. The only one I can find for a Gen 2 now doesn’t mention this, so I have a few questions.

1) What is the function of this valve?
2) Have I caused a problem by releasing some of the oil?
3) The oil is on the gasket now. Is that a concern?
4) It looks like there should be an O-ring that seats in there like the larger hole over on the left, but there isn’t one (at least not one that protrudes) and I can’t find one anywhere on the floor that may have dropped. Is there supposed to be one?
5) I can push the drive all the way on. Assuming the answer to questions 2-4 is “no”, can I tighten everything up and try running it?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Bt Doctur]

1 transfer oil into the drive and monitor the res oil level
2 No
3 No
4 No
5Yes

 

[tpenfield]

Regarding #4 . . . the Bravo drives have an O-ring around the oil valve. Do the Alphas not have an o-ring there?

 

[Grub54891]

If you are using a new gasket set, the new o- ring should be in the set. Any time you pull the drive, you replace all the gaskets.

 

[Mark A. J.]

It was a “Bell Housing and Stern Drive” gasket set. It had the gasket, one big rubber (3.5”?) seal, and four O-rings. I can see where the two larger rings go (one inside the housing and I slide the drive in inside it, and the other (about 1.5”) is inside the gasket on the left side), but I have three left over. I assumed I would have used them if I would have disassembled more. They definitely are too big for the hole in question. They are orange, and the ones I used were black. There are three O-rings in the drive shaft, but these look bigger.

While I waited overnight for these responses, I had the drive pushed on, but only one nut snugged up. When I checked this morning, I see some oil had leaked down and some had come out the small water return holes on either side of the drive. Not sure if this just finally drained out from the original leak, or because there wasn’t a tight gasket seal, if more came out. I am guessing that that little plunger moves backward when the drive is in gear so the valve hits the dead end in there to open and allow oil to flow down into the drive. IS THIS A CONCERN THAT OIL GOT IN THERE?

The one YouTube video I did find on the Gen 2’s said you need to drain the oil out of the drive before removing, but then never showed doing it. So three more questions here:
1) Is the drain plug for that down on the lower left near the front? I see something there that would accept a large flat-head screwdriver.
2) When should I ever need to drain it?
3) What is the recommended oil? I do not have an Owner’s Manual yet.

Thanks again!

 

[harringtondav]

The large square cross section o ring goes inside the bell hsg rear of the bellows. The two small o rings go on the rear of the splined coupler shaft. The next largest goes on the shaft just rear of the splines. The last goes on the bell hsg face water inlet on the left side. Use contact cement to tack it in place, as well as the large ring inside the bell hsg.

The lube leaked into the exhaust cavity. No problem. The screw is the lube drain. Change yearly with Merc high performance gear lube, the blue stuff. Go to "Boatinfo" for the online manual. Lube change is simple but must be done correctly or big probigm.

 

[harringtondav]

Regarding #4 . . . the Bravo drives have an O-ring around the oil valve. Do the Alphas not have an o-ring there?

No Ted, the bell hsg gasket has a molded seal.

 

[Bt Doctur]

It never ceases to amaze me why people take things apart without the knowledge to put it back together.The service manuals are still out there for free, search and download one.Should you make a mistake understanding a response it could cost you an outdrive.A little knowledge is dangerous but none or incorrect is even more deadly.
For the Bravo is a molded O ring

 

[Mark A. J.]

Okay, thanks everyone. I had got it back together before seeing all these responses, but you confirmed everything for me. This has been a great learning experience so I’ll be able to inspect things in the future. The only thing I didn’t do is use contact cement. I just used grease to hold O-rings in place. Hopefully that will be fine.

 

[Grub54891]

I normally use grease to hold the o rings in place. Never an issue for me.