Water leaking through hole between upper and lower unit

[Rick Russell]

Hello all!

I have the following:

Volvo Penta
5.7gxi-E
sxm 1.5 outdrive

I'm currently diagnosing a possible air leak issue in my cooling system and removed my outdrive from the boat. When I taped the water inlets on the lower unit and poured water into the water passage opening that mates with the pivot housing, I found water leaking from the circled holes in this picture I got off the internet.

Please note my upper and lower unit are still assembled and I'm actually seeing the water coming from these holes from the underside of the unit.

Is this a sign that my water tube in the unit is leaking?


Thanks in advance!

 

[alldodge]

possible air leak issue

Not a VP guy but if the same issue was with a Merc it would be the seals between the upper and lower halves. Suggest separating the halves and check/reseal the drive. In the link below it identifies the seals used

The VP guys should be along shortly

https://www.marinepartseurope.com/en/volvo-penta-explodedview-7746020-44-6241.aspx

 

[Rick Russell]

Thanks AllDodge! I'll separate them today and let you know what I find.

 

[Rick Russell]

OK, pulled it apart and found this. I'm going to order a new grommet and a new seal.

 

[alldodge]

Cool, looks like you found your issue

 

[BRICH1260]

Those holes are designed to drain water. They are definitely not your problem.

 

[Rick Russell]

Thanks for chiming in Brich. I was hoping that the bad seal in the picture was creating a vacuum in the lower unit and was drawing air in through those drain holes when they are out of the water when I'm on a plane, which is when I overheat and when I observe air bubbles through the clear hose that Don S. is always telling people to install to check for air entrainment.

I ordered the parts today and will try the "expensive vase" experiment again with the new seals and I'll post the results.

Cheers!

 

[BRICH1260]

I`d replace all rubber seals in the unit that you can find and double check the intake hose nipple fitting on the pivot housing. They are known to crack or break off.

 

[Rick Russell]

Great idea!

Bought all the gaskets I could! Inspected the nipple. While it was still intact, it was showing signs of fatigue by way of stress cracks, so I spent the extra $10 and bought a new nipple.

The one thing I can't figure out about that nipple is why there is a hole in the bottom of it. Seems like you would always be sucking air from that, except for the fact that the part of the nipple with the hole shouldn't be exposed to the air or water as it lines up in the plane of the aluminum housing. Is it possible that it is there to evacuate water from that area in case that water gets in the hole of the housing that is allowing the nipple to pass through?

Gaskets are changed, upper and lower units are reassembled, it passed the vacuum test and I thought I would paint it while it's off, so it may be 2 to 3 weeks before I get to do a sea trial. Besides, I noticed that a few threads were missing on the female end of the dipstick bearing housing so I ordered a new one. $300!

I guess that's why boat stands for Break Out Another Thousand!

Will keep you updated.