Drive oil seeping out of water intake slots-96 Alpha

This just started. I ran it with muffs (to see if larger main jets and higher float level would help my 3.0LX stop bogging-it didn't seem to help at all) put it back in the garage and noticed the oil trickling down the skeg from the slots, the next day. It did not do this before now. Dammit! How big an adveture$ is this gonna be?

Re: Drive oil seeping out of water intake slots-96 Alpha

Drain it & see what the lube looks like.....
Then a pressure test......
Sounds like you blew a seal....:'(

Re: Drive oil seeping out of water intake slots-96 Alpha

If it's thick, dark oil, it's likely gear oil and from where it's exiting, sounds like the seal under the water pump. You can get a full water pump kit and the seal and seal housing will come with the kit. The seal housing comes out with 2 screwdrivers once you have the lower unit off and the water pump removed. put it all back together with the new pump and you are good to go for another year or so.


PS the bogging problem could be in the accelerator circuit in the carb.....check the pump plunger and the check ball.

Re: Drive oil seeping out of water intake slots-96 Alpha

If the drive fails the initial pressure test you can seperate the drives, apply about 15 psi and look for leaks. You will have to plug the oil passage hole between the 2 halves. To check the accelerator pump have someone operate the throttle. You should see a stream of gas in the carb as it is operated. Was the engine tuned up? Timing , ponts etc. ? a water pump is pretty easy to replace if you need to replace that seal.

Re: Drive oil seeping out of water intake slots-96 Alpha

Thanks. Re the acc pump-it has always delivered a good squirt, I left that out. I have the linkage hooked to the inside hole of the upper arm of the acc pump, which delivers the most volume. Oddly, the kit I got had a pump in it but was too small of a diameter, and I had too use the old one which was working. This was after ordering using the numbers off the motor and carb. I called about the ball, they said not to use it. There really is no place to put it, which is why I called the place I bought the kit from. I even put a video on youtube, showing the inside of the carb, trying to get help. Do these 3.0's ever run right, as far as bogging? I'm 53, been around boats a long time, and this one is frustrating me...........