O Ring Leaking

frank2644

Recruit
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Messages
3
After re-mounting my Bravo 2 outdrive a few days later gear oil was leaking out the seam where the outdrive meets the bell housing. It seemed the gear lube O ring is not sealing. It's a new O ring and it looks identical to the the old one that never leaked as far as I know. I had cleaned the mating surfaces and the O ring groves before mounting the outdrive. I torqued the six outdrive bolts to 50 lb/ft as specified in the manual.

Two days ago I pulled the outdrive and cleaned the surfaces again. Inspection showed the O ring was intact with no nicks or other damage. So I re-installed it and ran the engine up to temperature. As of today there is a tiny amount of oil still apparently leaking from the stud beneath the O ring. This is much less leakage than the first time and it may just be residual oil. This very tiny leak has not yet dripped down the side, it's just a small slick under the stud with no oil apparent at the seam. If it is such a tiny leak should I be concerned?.


If it is a concern how should I fix it?

BTW, The old O ring measures about 7/8” O.D. and 1/16” (.0625) thick.
 

frank2644

Recruit
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Messages
3
Okay, I did some more research and came up with the following alternatives.

1) Do nothing, the leak is so tiny that it can be ignored. After three days the oil slick drip has maybe dripped down the side 3/4"long by 1/4" wide. More like a flat wet spot then a thick oil drip.

2) I found the same I.D. O ring in metric size that's 10 thousands thicker than the factory O ring (.080 vs .70 factory). Should I install that?

3) Use silicone around the original O ring,.

Please tell me what you would do.

Thanks,
Frank
 
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