Where is my gear oil going?

Had the boat pulled in February to check/change bellows, check engine alignment, and replace gimbal bearings if required. Dealer did all that and showed me the trim sending unit puck with the wires almost pulled out and told me that should be replaced also.

Due to the colder weather we have only been out about five times since dealer repairs. I always check engine compartment before leaving dock and noticed the gear lube reservoir is low. I add VP gear lube. Next day low again, add more gear lube. I have added about a quart so far. It should only hold a little over two quarts so adding this much seems excessive after a gear lube oil change.

Where is the lube going?

No lube in the bilge, no lube in the water. Even trimmed drive up and ran it forward/reverse several times then waited for lube to show up. No lube in water.

Dealer says it might be the "Y" coupling that connects reservoir hose to stern drive. Claims they go bad all the time. If no oil in bilge or water then the "extra" lube is in the bellows.

Anyone ever heard of this or is this something that might have happened during the other repairs? Don't really want to pay for their mistake if I can help it.

Re: Where is my gear oil going?

I'd pull the drive,see if oil is in the bellows.if it is,the seal is bad in the upper,if not,drain the drive,pressure check it..the oil should be someplace.if no leaks can be found,it did not have enogh oil to begin with.no oil=burnt up drive in short order. Hope you find out!
Grub

Re: Where is my gear oil going?

Thanks for the info.

When the dealer did the maintenance, do they have to disconnect the oil line from the reservoir to the lower unit? If so, my thought is that it wasn't connected completely or correctly.

If that is not required during this maintenance then I will have to bite the bullet and pay for the haul, maintenance and launch. The BIGGEST problem is that I will be WITHOUT a boat for almost two weekends! That is just not right....

Re: Where is my gear oil going?

NautiTime said:

When the dealer did the maintenance, do they have to disconnect the oil line from the reservoir to the lower unit? If so, my thought is that it wasn't connected completely or correctly.

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There is no oil line to a reservoir, that is a Merc thing. VP drives are self contained. The dip stick is at the top and drain hole is at the bottom.

Re: Where is my gear oil going?

I wonder what kind of VP drive I have then? Because my XDP HAS a oil reservoir.

Oil Reservoir, Xdp Drive 5.7OSi-D, 5.7OSi-DF, 5.7OSXi-D, 5.7OSXi-DF - 7744410 - Volvo Penta

Next.

Re: Where is my gear oil going?

If that is not required during this maintenance then I will have to bite the bullet and pay for the haul, maintenance and launch. The BIGGEST problem is that I will be WITHOUT a boat for almost two weekends! That is just not right....

Click to expand...

Or you can pull the drive like grub suggested and see for yourself what is going on. That's what this forum is for. You said there is no lube in the bilge or in the water. There's no where is for it to go except into the bellows.

I didn't see a mention of an oil reservoir in the manual I downloaded, but I do see it on exploded views. Seems like you can trace the oil line pretty easily. If it's leaking or not connected it shouldn't be hard to see. Or you can just wait on the mechanic to do it I suppose.