White/grey at bottom of Bravo three gear lube monitor

[Bravothree]

I bought a boat with twin bravo three stern drives.

It has was a grey / white area at the bottom of gear lube monitor.

I cleaned the lube oil monitor and changed the oil in the monitor, now after 40 engine hours the white / grey area is back.

The level in the monitor is not changed, and the oil in the stern drive was changes this spring.

Any thoughts what I must do?

 

[Triangleboater]

Looks to me like water is getting into your drives. Time for rebuild. I am sure the experts will chime in later.
Look up milky lower unit oil and it will give you a good picture.

 

[Scott Danforth]

drain the outdrive
do a pressure test
go from there.

 

[Bravothree]

Thank you for advice.

 

[Searay205]

I have a similar reservoir and my plastic is discolored making it look like yours. If you reach in reservoir with screw driver can you stir the area that is discolored and does it move around. It may just be how the reservoir is made.

 

[Bravothree]

I have cleaned the reservoir and it was all green after refill.

 

[tpenfield]

I have twin Bravo 3 outdrives . . . Same sort of crud in one of the bottles. I just replaced the bottle so I will have to see how that goes.

As mentioned, and specifically I would do the following things.

Remove & clean the bottle (you'll need to disconnect the 2 wires for the low level alarm)

If you can take the outdrive off, then it is a good time to flush the hose that leads from the reservoir to the transom. You can do that by pushing in on the check valve at the bell housing to let the oil in the tube flow out.

Check the condition of the gear lube in the outdrive. (It should not be discolored or milky) It will start out emerald green when new . . gets more black as it is old/used. If you are seeing milky oil, then you are into the pressure testing and possibly seal replacement as the others have mentioned. BTDT

Reinstall the reservoir bottle and get some fresh oil in it and flowing out the check valve, just to prime the line.

Slap that outdrive back on and run it a few times. It may 'burb' some air, so check the reservoir level.

As a side note: There is also a Mercruiser prescribed method of filling the outdrive (while installed) and pumping it up to a point where it begins filling the reservoir. It makes a hell of a mess though when you go to disconnect the fill tube

 

[Bravothree]

Thanks for good answers.

Do the lube oil in the outdrive circulate through the reservoir?

I get this color but the level in the reservoir is the same.

 

[Bondo]

Do the lube oil in the outdrive circulate through the reservoir?

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... No it doesn't circulate,.....

Just an expansion pot for temp changes,.....