Checking Lower unit oil

[ryanr623]

What do you guys do for checking the lower unit oil. I am sort of anal, and i check my fluids often.... my mechanic said "if you think its bad... change it." BUT Im not gonna change my lower unit oil every couple weekends. I got a little concerned because i changed my vent screw and nothing came out of it when i changed it.


Is there a trick to checking the level.... maybe a coat hanger in the vent screw for checking level? And an eye dropper in there for checking consistency?

 

[tractoman]

Re: Checking Lower unit oil

No idea what drive you have, but on my alpha gen II, I remove the fill plug and drain a little out checking for water and metal shavings on the magnet of the plug. I have a gear lube monitor bottle so I can see the level and by draining a little out, the level does not noticably change. Change it once a season.

 

[ryanr623]

Re: Checking Lower unit oil

No idea what drive you have, but on my alpha gen II, I remove the fill plug and drain a little out checking for water and metal shavings on the magnet of the plug. I have a gear lube monitor bottle so I can see the level and by draining a little out, the level does not noticably change. Change it once a season.

Sorry, Alpha 1, If i leave the vent screw in, it shouldnt run out very fast... should it?

Also, it should be OK to mix the lubrimatic/quicksiler synthetic blend lower oils correct? Both are blueish green in color.

 

[tractoman]

Re: Checking Lower unit oil

It will not come gushing out with the vent in place. I use Quicksilver Hi Performance GB. I don't know if you should mix them but I don't know about the lubrimatic.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Checking Lower unit oil

I wouldn't mix drive fluids(personally) but it may be fine. I would however buy some seals to have on hand if you plan on checking often. They should be changed every time the plug is removed, cheap insurance to prevent water intrusion. If you don't have a monitor bottle, and you just want to check the level then use the vent plug, if you want to check for water/lube condition then use the drain plug. If just a little is lost you could probably add a very small amount to the vent hole to top it back off, but much more than 3-4 oz and I would pump up from drain plug to assure a true reading.