Sx-m leaking oil

Jsulla

Cadet
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
8
d . Hello all! First post I've been looking through your board and decided I need to join.

I pulled my drive to go through before we start the season and noticed some oil in the bellows. I made a pressure tester and started looking for leaks. The upper seal seems like it's holding but I'm worried about the oil. But the lower seal is definitely leaking.

I've got some bubbles after spraying with windex. I'm just wondering if I should have the upper and lower seals replaced or just do the bottom

. The oil in the picture has about 5 hours driving on it and probably 20hours total in the water. I can't really tell if there is water in the oil. It looks pretty normal to me. I'll see tomorrow how far it drops from 15 pounds.

I'm also wondering how expensive this could be? I need to look at the service manual and see how hard this would be to do myself. Sounds like there is a crush collar for the upper, or can I change the seal without removing it. I haven't looked into doing the prop seal yet as I was just expecting to do the top one.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Any good Volvo shops in Minnesota?
 

Jammer864

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Messages
149
I would do the prop shaft seal first then re-pressure test and hope the input shaft seal holds. Prop shaft seal is easy with the right tools but the input shaft seal is tricky because of the crush spacer. If you do it yourself, order 3 crush spacers as its easy to over crush it the first few times. Im at Lake of the Ozarks if you need a hand with it and I have the tools also.
 

Jsulla

Cadet
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
8
I called a shop to see what the cost is going to be. They said they would call me back sometime today. If it's out of this world I'll go with plan B

And Yea that sounds like a good plan I'll fix that one first and retest! I'm going to try and make the tool to get the prop shaft carrier out and I'll probably buy the dial gauge to check the rolling torque when I'm done!
 

Jsulla

Cadet
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
8
f
So I was looking through the manual and it states no loss greater than 1psi per 3 minutes. It took about an hour to drop half a pound. And over 24 hours it dropped from 15 pounds to 8psi. Would my drive still need seals or does it pass volvo's test??
 

bruceb58

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 5, 2006
Messages
30,454
You need to do a vacuum test.

In your first post you said you saw bubbles. If you saw bubbles, you have a leak.

Were you rotating all the shafts while running your pressure test.
 

Jsulla

Cadet
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
8
You need to do a vacuum test.

Were you rotating all the shafts while running your pressure test.
I was rotating the shafts but I didn't have the service manual at the time so I didn't follow everything accordingly.

Upon further investing of the oil I found some streaking in the oil and believe water is in the oil. At least I know the oil is doing its job and mixing well with the water instead of letting the lower start up in water each time.

So I've decided to make the carrier removal tool and I've got the dial torque gauge coming. The manual says to use the tool at a 90 degree angle. So the offset from where the carrier tool shouldn't matter. I think it says it's has to be torqued to #220-225 after install and rolling torque is #14-23 on the shaft.

I'll post back when I make the tool and when my gauge gets here. I wanna check the rolling torque before I pull it apart. I'll follow the pressure and vacuum test exactly to the manual when I'm done!! Thanks for the help I do appreciate it!
 
Last edited:

Jammer864

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Messages
149
Check rolling torque before you tear it apart, like you said. But when you reassemble it make sure its about the same rolling torqure as before. That 14 -23# is for new bearings. Used bearings, as you have, are generally half the rolling torque amount as new ones. Ive experienced this firsthand. Volvo manuals dont indiate a difference between used and new bearings, but Merc does, and the first time I set the rolling torque at the new settings with used bearings they were tight as heck. So just make sure rolling torque is about the same as before you took it apart. Dont forget the set screw and the bolt and block inside the drive that need to come off before you unscrew the bearing housing. The inside bolt and block will be a bear to get back in if you put them in AFTER you reinstall the bearing housing, so put them in the cavity ( just laying in there) just before you push the bearing housing in all the way. If you dont get what Im saying.............you will when you have a hard time getting the block thru the slightly smaller opening of the bearing housing.
 
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