Drive oil leaking into bilge. Bravo 2

loosefix

Recruit
Joined
Aug 28, 2011
Messages
3
I have drive oil very slowly leaking into bilge. There seems to be no real 'pattern': Sometimes the reservoir stays full for a while, sometimes it leaks slowly,
but i can always see a steady trickle coming into the bilge.

I have discussed this with my local mercruiser dealer, my experienced 'free lance' local stern drive mechanic and finally, today, a random mechanic at the boat shop... here is the advice i have been given.....

Local Guy Said,

Its the yolk seal, it won't harm anything, most likely the yolk bearing will fail next and when that happens change them both, but using the boat isn't a problem.

Mercruiser guy said,

Has to be the reservoir leaking or more likely the feeder pipe/coupler (***** to get to). This i thought was good news as the drive doesn't need to come off; again continue using boat and fix asap.

Finally the guy in the shop today said,

Yes that is most likely (agreeing with feeder pipe issue), he told me to just pull off the reservoir and throw it, he said they are a waste of time Volva and other drives don't even have them... he then said i must seal/pinch the feed pipe to maintain... got confused at this point... to maintain pressurization? he said to stop back feed.

Surely if i block the pipe and there is a back feed it will leak out in the same place it leaks now, or will it find a natural level and be fine?

The main point he made was that if you fouled the drive you'd know about it and the tiny reservoir isn't gonna help anyway.

I've gone from needing to spend a couple of grand hauling the boat out etc, to a quick easy fix. Opinions please!!

Input from seasoned experts needed!! Thanks in advance!

On a different note, the reservoirs actually condensate and sludge starts to accumulates at the bottom of them (drive oil remains clear) - i am in the Caribbean at very high humidity levels. My mechanic told me a local dive center hauled their boat twice because of this and couldn't find any problems and this conclusion was reached!
 

cr2k

Captain
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
3,730
Re: Drive oil leaking into bilge. Bravo 2

Another possibility is a leak in the drive and water forcing the oil up and out the upper seal. Has anyone checked the drive oil from the bottom plug?
 
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