low and milky drive oil (SOLVED!)

checked my oil in my outdrive the other day and couldn't get a reading on my dipstick. i drained a little bit and found it was a little milky .

i drained all the oil and added new and took it for a test spin around the lake. same results.

i've been researching old forums and my understanding is the two main ways water can get in my drive is through the drive shaft seal or the prop seal.

here's the plan:

pull the upper drive and inspect the bellows and go from there.

i would like to know if this is a logical first step and please tell me which orings to replace when i put the upper back on (this is the only upper diagram they have under the 275)
http://www.volvopentastore.com/Upper-Gear-Unit-Drive-Dp290a/dm/*******.601348502--**********.848201284--store_id.366--view_id.766713

thanks a lot.

Re: low and milky drive oil

Re: low and milky drive oil

It really doesn't matter what the main 2 reasons for leaking drives is, what matters is where your leak is. You need to drain all the gear lube out, then pressure test the drive to find out what you have leaking. No sense in replacing a propshaft seal if it isn't causing your problem.
I would suggest you make sure there is no water or water/oil mixture in the ujoint bellows before you pull the upper gear box, you may be able to hear where your leak is.

Re: low and milky drive oil

Re: low and milky drive oil

thanks don. i'll check the u joint bellows and do a pressure/vacuum test this weekend.

i'll keep you guys posted

Re: low and milky drive oil

Re: low and milky drive oil

i just opened up the u joint bellows and milky oil came out.

i'm going to do the pressure/vacuum test next. i'll post my results.

Re: low and milky drive oil

Re: low and milky drive oil

after i found the milky oil in my u joint bellows, i did a pressure test. it did not hold the pressure and i heard the leak coming out of the upper unit (the seal where the u joint enters the upper i'm assuming).

i removed the upper and u joint bellows. i didn't find any tears, but i did see some slight cracking on one of the lips that was only visible when you bent the rubber a little more than normal

the u joints look bad but were surprisingly really smooth.


i'm now ready to fix my leak.

i know that i will need to replace:
u joint bellows
and
2 #34's and #7 in my intermediate from
http://www.volvopentastore.com/mall/image/view/7/6/8852_1.png

i'm not sure which seals to replace in the below diagram to fix the leak in my upper
http://www.volvopentastore.com/mall/image/view/7/6/9816_1.png

any help would be appreciated. thanks.

Re: low and milky drive oil

Re: low and milky drive oil

okay. did a pressure test and it was coming out of the main oil seal. i replaced that along with various other rings and the bellows. took her out today and we're good!