Re: Synthetic Outdrive Fluid
A minor point / insight / clarification on synthetic oil and water... It's the detergent package that emulsifies the water and keeps it from settling out. MOST synthetic lubes are sold as high performance products, they have not only the benefits of being a narrower distribution lube oil mixture (synthetic and natural, they're all really a mixture of bunch of different chemicals), but also include a better detergent (think soap) package that increases anti-scuff properties (surface wear on gears) and better suspends tiny particles of metal from wear as well as small amounts of water. Cheaper lubes/oils have a broader distribution of oil molecules in them, are more susceptible to breaking down under shear and temperature, and do not incorporate the same detergent package as many higher end synthetics. There is an analogous situation with motor oils, only even more pronounced in terms of detergents...
and the high performance merc stuff has chemistry specifically formulated to deal with the unique problems encountered in an outdrive: water, aluminum breakdown stuff, to handle high shear loads and temps without breakdown and do a great job at suspending water if needed... I would be wiling to bet that although the other brand synthetic gear lubes will have similar lube properties, if you do have a problem with water, etc... the merc stuff will handle it better...
just my two cents...
