Drive or Trim Oil Leak

[Cj7jeepoffroad]

It looks like my drive is leaking oil when its trimmed in the trailer position, I'm going to pull it of and replace the drive shaft seals. I've read that some early alpha's have a spacer between the bearings alowing you to just torque the nut down, and some need to tightened to 10in/lbs bearing preload. Can someone shed some light on this?
Thanks

 

[Don S]

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Why are you going to replace the drive shaft seals? Even if it was leaking you wouldn't see it, it's inside the bellows.

If you do take it apart, you need to look at the manual and your drive to determine which setup you have.
Here is a link to the manual http://www.4shared.com/office/L17_ufPa/06__Drives_R-A1_83-90.html?

Best thing you could do is pull the drive, drain the gear lube, and do a pressure check and actually find the leak before fixing things.

 

[Cj7jeepoffroad]

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Thanks Don,
I looked into it a bit further and it seems as though the trim block on the bottom of the gimbal housing is leaking and running down the transom (exterior). The last time I had the boat out,I had my buddy put the outdrive in the trailer position, I remember he ran the drive up the hole way but held in on the trim button loading the trim motor hard. Its been sitting there under pressure since then (over a week) is there a mechanical connection under that block that could leak?

 

[achris]

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

What oil is leaking, drive oil or trim pump oil? And where are you seeing the leak?

 

[Cj7jeepoffroad]

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

I'm about 95% sure its trim fluid, Bellows are new and are not leaking, there is no oil on the inner transom. The fluid in my drive and in my trim is brand new so its difficult to tell the difference. heres some pic's

 

[achris]

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Drive oil should be blue, trim oil red or like honey (depending what you're using, ATF or 30W engine oil)....

That looks like a trim oil leak... Remove the anode block (without breaking off the bolts) and see if you have a loose hose or a broken manifold (the block the hoses screw into)...

Chris....

EDIT: please edit your original post and change the title. This has nothing to do with the bearing preload...

 

[Cj7jeepoffroad]

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Re: 1988 Alpha MR 10in/lbs of bearing preload or does it have the spacer on the input

Yea, I have 30w in the trim and Amsoil in the drive, both are "honey" in color. I think I will change the oil in the drive oil to the Blue Merc stuff to make it easier to tell whats leaking.