Honda 150 Lower Unit Gear Case Oil Is Black. Problem?

Muskyguy

Recruit
Joined
Sep 24, 2016
Messages
1
I just changed the lower unit gear case oil in my Honda 2006 9.9 hp and 150 hp outboards. I use Honda recommended oil in both. The 9.9 oil was still gold colored like the day I put it in but the 150 oil was black. It was not milky or grey but black. There were a few small filings on the drain plug and I saw no signs of water in the drained oil. Both engines had about 40 hours on them this year and they both ran fine with no strange noises. Is this normal? Is this something I should investigate further? Have any other high horsepower Honda owners noticed something similar?
 

Grub54891

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
5,908
Most I've seen that get black are from lack of maintainance, But it sounds like ya change it yearly. Run it a bit, and change it again to basically flush out the old oil as best as you can. Then next year check it occasionally and see if it gains a dark color or shavings. A few shavings are normal wear and tear.
 
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