Outdrive mystery continues ...

[zul]

A small amount of water is getting into the gear lube, visible in the bottom / lowest corner of the Fill To resv.

I replaced the lower outdrive last year. Did the break in and replaced the gear lube as suggested.
I've been getting shavings on the plug every time I pull the plug.
Run the boat a few times and notice the small amount of discoloration in the bottom / lowest corner of the Fill To resv..
Drain gear lube again, notice some more fine metal shavings on the magnetic plug, fill with new gear lube.
New drain plug gasket. Plug back in.

I've done this a several times.

I made an air pressure tester (last year) and it held 8lbs of air for 10+ days.

Back to where I was on this one ... ??

 

[jimmbo]

Seals under water pump. Pull a vacuum on the case, see if it holds

 

[Bt Doctur]

or upper seals for the lower driveshaft

 

[zul]

We did the new transom seal including the o-rings this winter as well. As long as those o-rings went in properly, should be ok there.
The new lower had a factory new water pump, so that should be ok? How can I vacuum test that area?

Great suggestions, but it looks like I'm gong to have to pull the drive and pressure test again?

Any other ideas are welcome (I hate these sort of mysteries)!!

If I ignore the water intrusion, will it go away (ugggh).

 

[thumpar]

Under pressure a seal could be sealing it because the pressure behind it. Under a vacuum it could fail because that seal is being pulled back. If I remember right the test used for vacuum is not as high as that used for pressure.

 

[flipbro]

How fine are the metal shavings? Is it like carbon powder or flakes? A lot of flakes presents a problem were the carbon looking powder is normal.

 

[Faztbullet]

U joint bellows filling with water and leaking around yoke seal.....

 

[crazy charlie]

Zul,are you 100% certain that what you are seeing in the bottom of the res is water???? When a drive is under load the gear lube gets aerated from turning gears .The level of the res will raise.Bottom of res will look to have a carmel colored foam.This is the aerated lube.Leave it and come back next day and lube is back to normal level when areated lube gets un aerated.Had same...thought same...I was wrong and had no issues.Charlie

 

[zul]

The metal shavings are flakes but turn to mush/paste between the fingers.
We put all new bellows in this winter.
The discolur I'm finding looks light-blue and I almost wanted to call em' small tiny bubbles ...
No caramel color, so, can it be possible it's just aeration?!
The level of gear lube dropped (which I guess is normal). I'll top it off and run it again and see if the level changes but that'll take a week or two.

I have 2 pix i'll try and post up:
1. Plug with lots of fine metal shavings
2. Gear oil resv

 

[zul]

Plug:

 

[crazy charlie]

ohhhh,I didnt catch the part about the shavings.That much may be acceptable after a full season of use but points to a problem for sure.

 

[zul]

The plug photo was taken after three long trips on Lake Powell, say 55-60 hours. Currently, gear lube is new with two short runs, total 4 hours.

I'm thinking to remove the plug, cover the hole quickly to inspect the plug for amount of shavings. Then return the plug and top off the resv. Is this a good idea? Or will that create possible air in the gear lube chamber??

Thanks@!

 

[crazy charlie]

That should not be an issue.I recommend getting an extra magnet plug so you can just do a quick pull and replace all in one move.What ever comes out on your fingers should be replaced by the reservoir .As long as the lid is on the res cover not much should come out..Make note if the gasket comes off with the plug or not.

 

[QBhoy]

Zul
Could it be that the resovoir has condensation in it over the years and is needing the sludge cleaned out it ?
I'm sure there are many cases of hardened sludge accumulation in the resovoir...even to the point where it becomes completely cut off from the drive.
I'm not 100%, but I'd imagine if water was getting in through the drive, it probably wouldn't appear in the resovoir soon after ? Someone correct me on this.

 

[QBhoy]

Don't know if it helps, but I take the resovoir off and clean it out every year. I was amazed at the crud in there that wasn't apparently obvious at first glance.

 

[zul]

For my winterizing, when I drained the gear lube, I scrubbed out the resv. I paper toweled it clean, so unless there is additional gunk in hiding, it's been cleaned.

Strange in that the discolored portion (as seen in picture) returns the same way, same amount each time. I wonder if that discolored area will 'grow' on the next trip or if it will stay the same? Time will tell, I guess.

I'll get that extra plug and see what's in there (shavings) later this week ...

Thanks gang!!

 

[JustJason]

With outdrives sometimes they leak on the bench, other times they won't leak until the shafts are spinning 2000 rpm. Instead of hunting and trying to find that 1 leaking seal, often times your better off tearing the drive down, inspecting the shafts for wear, and re-sealing the whole thing.

 

[zul]

New photo ... Upper portion of the outdrive: has discoloration to the paint. My mechanic (at first) thought it might be from over heat/temp discoloring the paint. Then he thought it to be no big deal.

 

[zul]

Just pulled the lower plug and found more shavings then wanted. See pic. Also shows the color of the gear lube, slightly milky which means water, I guess. ((Disregard the broken up gasket, it wasn't used))

Mystery 1. Shavings
Mystery 2. Water in gear lube

 

[flipbro]

Time 4 pressure /.vacuum test. Do u do a lot of long high rpm runs? If so.mabe a drive shower is needed. Also why did u change your lower? Often when an upper or lower goes it contaminates the oil with shavings. Then they get distributed throughout the bearings.