1979 mercruiser 260 outdrive oil leak.

[Straightoutofline]

Goodmorning all!<br />I am new to boating and brand spanking new to this forum....I hate to start a relationship this way,but I have a problem....<br />Over the weekend,I replaced the water pump impeller and base plate on my boat....All went well,and after some coaxing,I had her back together.I have everything lined up and looking good,but when I started to fill her back up with oil,I noticed that I was pumping it out the weep hole located on the opposite side of the lower unit...a call to the dealership indicated that I must have damaged the "quad" seal...<br />Well I pulled it back apart enough to get the little orange seal out and inspected it...no problem found...Is there something here that I'm missing?? I will put a new one in it tonight....but is there something else that I'm missing?<br />Thank you...<br />P.S. <br />The boat is a 1979 20ft. Sea Ray daycruiser<br />260 hp 350 cid<br />I'm not to sure about the drive...but from what I can tell,It's pre Alpha

 

[bamaboaters]

Re: 1979 mercruiser 260 outdrive oil leak.

I am replacing my water pump as well. The "quad seal ring" is the only O ring on my Alpha Gen 2, between the housings. If you replace and still have a leak consider the torque sequence and spec for the housing bolts. Do you have a manual? Did you remove the entire drive (as I did)? You can also pressure test prior to adding gear lube.

 

[Straightoutofline]

Re: 1979 mercruiser 260 outdrive oil leak.

Hi. Thanks for the reply!<br />No...I did not take the entire drive off the boat...just the lower half.<br />I thought about the torque sequence as you mentioned,and followed the instructions given in the repair book....<br />I'm a little bummed....not because it's leaking...but because the quad seal appeared to be fine.(it's so much eaiser to fix something when you know whats wrong)I spoke with the dealership again...but they just keep going back to the seal...<br />I was just wondering if there is anything I'm missing.....

 

[Straightoutofline]

Re: 1979 mercruiser 260 outdrive oil leak.

One other thing...the reason that I seperated the lower half is to replace the h2o pump.The engine overheated...I don't know if this has anything to do with the oil leak,but I thought I'd add it.

 

[FreeBeeTony]

Re: 1979 mercruiser 260 outdrive oil leak.

Check out this web page .........when my outdrive was leaking from this hole it was due to the seals on the water pump base, there should be 2 of them I think.

 

[Straightoutofline]

Re: 1979 mercruiser 260 outdrive oil leak.

Thank you for your reply!<br />It turns out that I have a pre Alpha upper and a Alpha lower unit!! The dealership sold me the base that would have gone to a pre Alpha lower...Not much difference...but enough to cause the oil to flow under the base plate seal.I replaced it with the correct one and got it back together last night with no leaks.Thanks for the help!