Omc Outdrive oil milky and foamy

Hello, i have a omc conra 4.3 liter v6 engine with an omc outdrive
I bought this as a project boat and completly rebuild it and also had taken the outdrive apart last summer and fully resealed and also ran it last winter once before winterizing it. Everything was perfect.

Today after deeinterizing it and starting it for the first
Time, i ran it for a few mins with the ears and my garden hose attached to check everything. Everything was working fine. After opening the oil dipstick to see the amount of oil,
I found the green oil to be milky and foamy.

So i understand a little water got into the system.. Is that safe to ride this summer with? I will check oil before every use and add if neccesary or do i need to reseal it again?

Thank you

Re: Omc Outdrive oil milky and foamy

check it again tomorrow. You might have been seeing normal aeration of the oil making it look milky.

Re: Omc Outdrive oil milky and foamy

Howard Sterndrive said:

check it again tomorrow. You might have been seeing normal aeration of the oil making it look milky.

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yea its still the same and 2 days past but not as foamy but it is milky... i will try to replace the oil again and c if it happens again before taking the drive off and resealing it all

but is it safe to drive with a little oil in the system?

Re: Omc Outdrive oil milky and foamy

most manuf's of synthetic marine gear lubricants say yes. Some even say they'll be fine with 15 or 20% water in the lube.

If using conventional gear lube, best to pressure/vac test and find the issue. It might just be fishing line in the propshaft seal.
It will get worse before it gets better and monofilament line can cut a groove in the propshaft adding to the cost of the eventual repair.

Re: Omc Outdrive oil milky and foamy

Did you try pulling the drain plug, just to see if water comes out first then gear oil? Thats a sure sign of water in the gear oil. If you change the oil again, let a sample of the gear oil sit in a clear container and in a day or so you may see a layer of water on the bottom. In any case you should get it pressure and vac tested, and have the bad seals replaced. Sometimes its a simple thing but some of the seals you need special tools to replace. Are your drain n fill plug and dipstick gaskets good? You are supposed to replace them each season but many people don't.

Re: Omc Outdrive oil milky and foamy

Howard Sterndrive said:

most manuf's of synthetic marine gear lubricants say yes. Some even say they'll be fine with 15 or 20% water in the lube.

Click to expand...

This is good to know!

Re: Omc Outdrive oil milky and foamy

thank you for the info guys, i will do the work this weekend and keep you upto date and thanks for the fast responces.