Mercruiser Yellow Gear Oil Color

almostblue

almostblue

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Wondering the normal color of oil - photo taken during the pumping of new oil from below. . new oil is blue, but old oil coming out is mustard or custard yellow. Better than coffee color or black, but the bubbles (hopefully just air, not water) were a concern. Photo attached.
 

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Gary H NC

Gary H NC

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Re: Mercruiser Yellow Gear Oil Color

Welcome to Iboats!

It could be the Pennzoil marine gear lube or some auto gear lube that someone used before.
The blue oil is the good stuff...
 
H

HT32BSX115

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Re: Mercruiser Yellow Gear Oil Color

Gary H NC said:
Welcome to Iboats!

It could be the Pennzoil marine gear lube or some auto gear lube that someone used before.
The blue oil is the good stuff...
Click to expand...


AND it would be a LOT easier to tell if the picture was in focus!

As an aside, that yellow "stream" is probably remnants of what was in there. What did the "stuff" you drained out look like?
 
almostblue

almostblue

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Re: Mercruiser Yellow Gear Oil Color

HT32BSX115 said:
AND it would be a LOT easier to tell if the picture was in focus!

As an aside, that yellow "stream" is probably remnants of what was in there. What did the "stuff" you drained out look like?
Click to expand...

thank you - my greasy cell phone was hard to control for the photo.
I just topped it off as it is a new boat - I will drain it completely later.
It was good that it was still 95% full, and I was happy it was not black and no shavings on the plug- but it was changed 14 months ago and only used 5 times since.

attached - not much better - and I missed the bubbles as they raced through as well.
 

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Bondo

Bondo

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Re: Mercruiser Yellow Gear Oil Color

Ayuh,... I don't see a problem,...

When inspecting the oil,.. The 1st few tablespoons are where to be Lookin'....
If there's Water,... That's where it'll be,... Especially if sittin' for awhile...
 
Don S

Don S

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Re: Mercruiser Yellow Gear Oil Color

From the OEM manual, along with rule of thumb.
Gear lube, engine oil, fuel filters and oil filters should be changed yearly or every 100 hours. Whichever comes first. While you can get a new aftermarket SEI outdrive for around 1200 to 1400 bucks. $15 worth of gear lube each year is cheaper.
 
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