Is this normal?

[orion25]

I have a 2007 Larson 208 LXI with a Mercury 5.0 MPI / Alpha 1. It has 15 hours on it. Last time I went out I noticed that the drive lube reservoir on the top of the engine looked low. So on the way to the marina today I picked up a tube of High Performance gear lube. It took about 4 to 5 ounces to refill the reservoir.

Is this normal for a new engine / outdrive or should I be considering talking to my dealer about some warranty service (I have a 5 yr warranty that covers everything except the carpet).

I ran it today after topping it off for about 1.5 hrs at speeds varying between idle and WOT (mostly at 3000 to 4000 RPM's) and it did not appear that the reservoir dropped any.

 

[wire2]

Re: Is this normal?

Could it have been a bit low right from the start? Installing dealer may have been a bit sloppy.
If it's not dropping now, no use looking for a leak.

 

[dvan1901]

Re: Is this normal?

It's my understanding that both the engine and the drive will use some oil/lube during the break-in period; not sure about that much, but as wire2 said, could have been a little low to begin with.

 

[Daddy5295]

Re: Is this normal?

After changing oil in my outdrive Merc. Alpha 1 also. The manual has you dump out the resevoir, refill the outdrive, then top off the resevoir. And says you will prob. have to add oil after running awhile. Mine used about 4 ounces. So I think what you have is normal. Just keep an eye on it.

 

[orion25]

Re: Is this normal?

Thanks for the info. And to answer a previous question, my dealer set the boat up right. There were no fluid deficiencies that I saw and I checked oil, drive, PS, etc. I am hoping it is just a normal thing since my bilge is clean (I have not ran the bilge pump yet manually and I only noticed it kicking on automatically once).

 

[180shabah]

Re: Is this normal?

Sounds OK to me. You've been taking it easy on things during the breakin period right? Probably just never got hot enough until now to "burp" the air out of the lines.

 

[orion25]

Re: Is this normal?

Sounds OK to me. You've been taking it easy on things during the breakin period right? Probably just never got hot enough until now to "burp" the air out of the lines.

Yep, most likely been taking it too easy..... Never went above 4000 rpm until 10 hrs..................... Good to hear that all is well.