Water in gear lube monitor

[mp3mike05]

The engine is a 3.0 lx Alpha one Gen II outdrive.

I ordered a water pump replacement kit, so today I drained the outdrive of all the gear oil in preparation of removing the lower unit. Following the directions I first removed the monitor bottle and dumped it out. Once most of the lube was drained, I noticed in the bottom of the bottle there was some water in it, hardly any but enough for me to notice.

How would water even get into the bottom of the monitor bottle? Since the intake for the gear lube is up higher it seems as though the water would have never circulated to the rest of the system.

The rest of the oil drained out didn't look milky but it was a very light green color. The color of the oil in the gear lube monitor was more of a black - dark green color. Does this oil turn light green with the presence of water?

 

[Don S]

Re: Water in gear lube monitor

Sounds like the beginning of a leak.
Pull the drive, check the bellows for water. Drain the gear lube and do a pressure and vacuum check of the drive to find the leak.
What YEAR????

 

[mp3mike05]

Re: Water in gear lube monitor

The year is 1992, recently purchased this summer so unsure of any previous maintenance.

I have gasket kit for the upper drive consisting of a bellhousing gasket, a huge rubber gasket/oring, along with 4 other smaller o-rings. Is this all I need to pull and reinstall the drive? I guess tomorrow I will pull it and look around for any water.

 

[billbayliner]

Re: Water in gear lube monitor

Had the same issue but I knew my drive was fine as I pressure tested and vacuum tested drive. Ended up being an dried out cracked oil line in the transom assembly.

 

[mp3mike05]

Re: Water in gear lube monitor

Ok so I took off the rest of the drive this morning. After the usual struggle, I finally got it off. A bit of water came out and there is a bit of brown sludge in the top bellow. The bottom one (exhaust?) appears fine. The bell housing gasket was half missing, and the water inlet oring looked as if it could be leaking. Hopefully this is the cause of my problems?

Heres some pictures I took tell me what you think. Turning the u-joint seemed smooth with no play in it.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Water in gear lube monitor

Not good!......
The water inlet won't do that....
Either your ujoint bellows is bad or the large o ring was improperly placed when the drive was installed.......
You will need to drain & pressure test the drive like Don S said....
If you are lucky, it will pass.....
If there is no gear lube in the bellows, the yoke seal is still good, but it should probably be replaced & the yoke inspected....
I'd pump the ujoints & gimbal bearing with grease to get out any residual water.......
They may or may not be OK, but from the looks of them, (rust) they should be replaced.......
Inspect the ujoint bellows closely, it is the most likely suspect, but the large oring looks funky......
The exhaust bellows have no part in this situation either.....​

 

[mp3mike05]

Re: Water in gear lube monitor

Ok so been busy with school but I finally got around to pressure testing the drive. At first I suspected the seal by the propeller because of some fishing line I found behind the propeller. However, when I was moving the shift shaft? (the shaft with the angled end which selects gears) I instantly heard some air rushing out.

I also noticed that the shaft could be moved up and down, is this normal? Skimmed through the service manual, and it appears there is an oil seal somewhere down there. Would this be what needs to be replaced? Also if it needs to be replaces is this something that can be done without tons of special tools or would I be better off taking it in. Thanks.

 

[flabum]

Re: Water in gear lube monitor

The seal for the shifter is easy to replace with the right tool..... get the tool. The seal is in the spanner nut that the shift shaft coes through. You may also need a new shift shaft, they get nailed by electrolosis from time to time. Movement up and down is normal.

Read Haut Medocs' post..... good avice there.

 

[mp3mike05]

Re: Water in gear lube monitor

Yea the gimbal bearing feels like its got a little bit of a rougher spot in it so it's going to more than likely have to go into the shop to get the bellows and bearing replaced. Hopefully after replacing the shifter seal the outdrive portion will at least be good to go.