Milky lower leg gear oil

[isaksp00]

I drained the gear oil on my Honda 8 hp today, and it was a little milky. I'm guessing that may be some water incursion. Is this more or less normal, or something to attend to?
Thanks, Peter

 

[MinUph]

Re: Milky lower leg gear oil

Good question,
I've heard white is not good but I've changed Gear oil probably 30 times on different out drives, and lower units and they are all milky.

 

[pole position]

Re: Milky lower leg gear oil

I changed the lower unit oil in both of my outboards.The 1973 50 Evinrude was perfect,still blue after 2 seasons of running aground while crabbing and fishing but the 2005 Nissan 5hp had a little milky color,have to keep an eye on it.I just bought it in september and I didn't check it,took the old owners word that it was ok.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Milky lower leg gear oil

Milky is not good. It can possibly, but seldomly, occur on some motors at the first change, due to the preservative oil on the gears mixing with the gear lube. Otherwise it is a sign of water mixed in, which means time to re-seal the LU.

 

[simplystressed]

Re: Milky lower leg gear oil

What about pressure testing the LU? I had am old motor that had milky lu oil but pressure test was good. Think it was condensation causing it.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Milky lower leg gear oil

Yeah, right. Condensation. How much air would there be in there, and how humid could it be? Sounds like the story of the Easter Bunny. Theoretically possible, but highly doubtful. There was definitely water in there, and it would have had to be a LOT of condensation. Might just have been a leaky drain plug gasket, though.

 

[isaksp00]

How to reseal the LU?

How to reseal the LU?

OK, since the motor is in my basement on a stand, may as well try to reseal the LU, just in case.

The Honda service manual doesn't show this very well - the diagrams of the various shafts don't even show the seals, for example, that I can see in the online parts site parts diagrams.

I assume this basically involves replacing the rubber seals on the 1) shift shaft, 2) the pinion shaft and 3) the propeller shaft, and maybe some of the o-rings on these. It looks like once I remove the LU and the prop shaft holder, these seals may be easy to pull out and replace, and it does not look like special tools are needed, nor would I have to remove/disturb the bevel gears, bearings, etc.

Is it reasonably easy for a handy amateur to do (I have successfully changed the water pump, so I have some experience with this)?

Thanks, Peter

 

[MinUph]

Re: How to reseal the LU?

Re: How to reseal the LU?

Well I drained mine today and low and behold it was nice and blue. This has got to be a first.
Wish I knew how to help ya isaksp00