Gear Lube

[zul]

I have a tube of Pennzoil High Viscosity Lower Unit Gear Lube SAE80W-90 left over from my last boat. I currently have a 94 Sea Ray 180 4.3L sterndrive. The drive oil reservoir is getting low and says to only use Quicksilver gear lube.

Will the Pennziol product work? Is this the right stuff? I'm not trying to be cheap, I would just hate to toss this in the trash to go out and buy the same thing made by Quicksilver ... ???

 

[Bt Doctur]

a dropping res bottle means there is a leak

 

[SkiDad]

Fine to use. Drain old. Don't mix

 

[zul]

Leak: as in gear oil out or water moving IN?!

 

[Fun Times]

I have a tube of Pennzoil High Viscosity Lower Unit Gear Lube SAE80W-90 left over from my last boat. The drive oil reservoir is getting low and says to only use Quicksilver gear lube. Will the Pennzoil product work?

Sounds like you just want to top off your gear oil reservoir?
If you already have Mercruiser's/Quicksilver blue/greenish colored high performance gear lube in the oil reservoir, then it really is not considered a good idea to mix the two oil brands unless it's an temporary emergency of course before you are able to change the oil in it's entirety.

A few things could consume oil in the drive, whether it be a leak, heat, or in some minor cases O-rings used on the drain plugs vs gaskets.
http://driveshowers.com/topping_off.htm
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...-gear-lube-vanished-how?p=4131617#post4131617

 

[R055]

Do you have enough of the penzoil to drain all the old gear oil and fill it with penzoil? If so you can do that and then locate the leak with the penzoil gear oil and when you fix it, drain and get new gear oil.

 

[zul]

All great ideas, thx gang! The boat is new to me and the gear oil resv was a bit low when I got it. Not sure if it's leaking but I'll have to get a close look for drips and keep an eye on the level, hoping it stays where it is.

Will do a full gear oil change next week.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Will the Pennziol product work? Is this the right stuff? I'm not trying to be cheap, I would just hate to toss this in the trash to go out and buy the same thing made by QuicON-synthetic gear lubricant.

Since there is no ASTM/SAE/NMMA specification for "Marine" gear lubricant, ANY GL-5 (non-limited slip) oil can be used and is compatible with any other GL-5 gear lubricant.

Mercury recommends NOT mixing (Synthetic) Mercury HP gear lubricant with their own (or other I presume) non-synthetic oil.

[h=3]Premium Gear Lube[/h] Mercury Marine gear lube outperforms automotive gear oil in marine applications because of its specialized additive package designed for marine gear cases. Continued use of this gear case lubricant will: Provide maximum protection against excessive wear - even in the presence of water Prevent corrosion and pitting Help extend gear life Mercury Premium SAE 80W90 Gear Lube is recommended for lower units for outboards below 75 horsepower. Mercury Premium SAE 80W90 Gear Lube should not be mixed with Mercury High-Performance SAE 90 Gear Lube. ..........................
[h=3]High-Performance Gear Lube[/h] Engineered to provide maximum protection for sterndrive and outboard lower units. Exclusive formula is engineered to provide extended gear life in extreme conditions including high-speed and high-horsepower applications. Extensively tested to provide excellent protection against corrosion and excessive wear. Specifically formulated to help prevent failures due to water entering the gear housing. Extreme pressure synthetic additives protect gears from metal to metal contact. Since no industry-wide standards exist concerning marine gear oils, it is essential to use products such as Mercury High-Performance Gear Lube which has been specifically designed and tested for marine applications. DO NOT mix with Mercury Premium Gear Lube. Provides warranty protection for all Mercury MerCruiser sterndrive and Mercury, Mariner and Force outboard lower units. Available container sizes: 10oz Tube, Quart, 2.5 Gallon, 5 Gallon, 16 Gallon, 55 Gallon

Since there hasn't been an independent comparison between Mercury HP and other synthetics, AND since they promote, market and sell their own branded oils, I am a little skeptical of their claims.

If you look at a Mercury Service Manual (or any service manual) when Mercury oils are not available, they'll indicate that other GL-5 oils can be used.

All gear oils ("marine gear oils" included) are tested to the same ASTM standards (since there's no marine "Standard"........ If there was, NMMA would license it! http://www.nmma.org/certification/boats )

Can you use the Pennzoil? If you're going to change to synthetic oil (Mercury HP, Am$oil Marine syn gear oil, Mobil1 gear oil, Volvo Penta synthetic gear oil etc etc, in your drive, then no. Give the Pennz away or toss it. If you're NOT going to use syn, it'll mix with any of the other NON-synthetic GL-5 oils..... It's one of the requirements of the SAE GL-5 specifications. (just about all of the MIL specs for oils require a "mix" compatibility too.)

Cheers,

Rick