Water in outdrive

M

matfost

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I have a 1990 Chris Craft 167 Concept with a 3L HO OMC Cobra. When I went to change the lube in the outdrive the first thing I did was remove the dipstick on the top of the unit. As soon as it was loose pressure shot it up about a foot and tan colored lube started running all over the place. Removed the plug in the lower unit at the bottom and the same color lube slowly dribbled out. Removed the mid plug and clean lube came out. My question is why the pressure on top and why the clear in the middle?

Thanks,
Matt
 
bruceb58

bruceb58

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Re: Water in outdrive

Are you sure there is water in the drive? Did you drain it into a clear container and examine it?

Have you pulled the drive to see if there is water in the bellows? If you do have water in the bellows, that is an easy place for water to get into the drive.
 
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matfost

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Re: Water in outdrive

It was light tan in color, completely opaque and kind of frothy in consistency. This was done within an hour of being run.

Matt
 
bruceb58

bruceb58

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Re: Water in outdrive

Ok..sounds like water. First thing i would do is pull the drive to see if you have water in your bellows. If you have water in there, that is probably the source of the water in your drive since that seal is not meant to keep water out. Hopefully, the shaft going into the drive is not corroded from the water being in there because that could also cause that seal to leak in the future. If you have no water in there one of your external seals is leaking. No matter what, you need to do a pressure test and a vacuum test on the drive.
 
A

a70eliminator

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Re: Water in outdrive

Something doesn't make sense, if you drive was holding that much pressure to physically blow the dipstick a foot into the air would indicate a pretty good tight seal. I know when these drives get hot a certain amount of pressure does build up from expansion. The oil in the lower is churned by the gearset same with the upper, the intermediate shaft linking the upper and lower is hollow which creates the passage of oil between the two, sounds like the drive was way overfilled and there was no place for expansion of the heated oil.
With all the big hype on OMC's blowing up from lack of oil it wouldn't surprise me, better overfilled than underfilled I guess?
 
bruceb58

bruceb58

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Re: Water in outdrive

The oil seals on the driveshaft are made to keep oil in. It doesn't do a good job at keeping water out. Imagine this scenario, drive is hot, water in the bellows, drive cools sucking water past the seal...drive heats up in sun...seal is good at keeping things in...that is why there is pressure.
 
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