Water in gear oil... (Not a great day)

[Pmt133]

It's not a ton, but it was all through the drain of the lube so that's enough. Was originally planning on doing the impeller and other associated maintenance but that's on hold now. Going to set it up for a pressure test and see where it is leaking from sooner than later.

Being this drive is a mix/match to begin with (unknown upper for proper ratio, lower dad built from the parts from junk boats at the shop 30 years ago he is constantly surprised is still together and is a preload pin model) I will be taking a long hard look at what I'll do moving forward. Any water that got in is brine, so that's not a great start. I have most of the tools to do a rebuild and reseal and if not I can borrow from a friend...

That being said, the SEI with a 3 year warranty looks mighty tempting.

More to come, mostly just looking for moral support on this one.

 

[Franco_boater]

Keep us posted please! Im looking forward for any reseal job on A1G2

 

[Pmt133]

Keep us posted please! Im looking forward for any reseal job on A1G2

Sadly I'm an alpha 1 upper with an MC-1 lower. Similar but not the same.

 

[Pmt133]

Shift shaft seal. Though it holds 20psi for ~20 minutes if you wiggle the shaft it sprays out air

 

[Pmt133]

So the rest of the story from last night: dad got home and goes "you find the leak yet or do you need me to tell you it's the shift seal?" I had just started the pressure test at the time. Soon as I move the shifter it let out a whisper of air. Under pressure you can hear a slight leak through the exhaust hub as well... which makes sense since it's in that cavity.

The gear lube was mostly lube, the drain was some brown swirl mixed in. He was looking at it and basically came to the same conclusion I did... it only recently started leaking. Ordered the seal and installer (couldn't find dads) and that'll be that.

More to come when I pull it apart next week.

 

[Lou C]

It's just the way it is with older outdrives. I had to change the water pump shaft seal on my Cobra for the same reason, was getting a bit of milky gear oil after pulling the plug, the rest of it looked OK. On these the shaft wears a groove in the shaft so the original seal doesn't last as long as it should. There is an OMC repair place up in Ontario that sells a modified water pump plate with an additional seal, that corrects the problem. I installed one of these last fall so far with just running it on the water hose, it looked good, but I'll be able to really tell at the end of the season. I was amazed that I got the old plate off. My previous mechanic used OMC gasket sealer on the bolts so they didn't seize up, that stuff is just like Perfect Seal, but neither is available any more.

Seal is inboard of the shaft, new plate adds an additional one that rides on the un-worn section of the shaft. This impeller design is very easy to change, 3 bolts for the plastic cover, 3 bolts for the impeller housing, that's it. No splitting upper and lower gear housing.

 

[Pmt133]

It's just the way it is with older outdrives. I had to change the water pump shaft seal on my Cobra for the same reason, was getting a bit of milky gear oil after pulling the plug, the rest of it looked OK. On these the shaft wears a groove in the shaft so the original seal doesn't last as long as it should. There is an OMC repair place up in Ontario that sells a modified water pump plate with an additional seal, that corrects the problem. I installed one of these last fall so far with just running it on the water hose, it looked good, but I'll be able to really tell at the end of the season. I was amazed that I got the old plate off. My previous mechanic used OMC gasket sealer on the bolts so they didn't seize up, that stuff is just like Perfect Seal, but neither is available any more.
View attachment 416881
Seal is inboard of the shaft, new plate adds an additional one that rides on the un-worn section of the shaft. This impeller design is very easy to change, 3 bolts for the plastic cover, 3 bolts for the impeller housing, that's it. No splitting upper and lower gear housing.

I like feeling like I have an outboard doing the water pump lol.

Perfect seal was very good. I think merc superseded it to permatex 3h?

 

[Scott06]

I like feeling like I have an outboard doing the water pump lol.

Perfect seal was very good. I think merc superseded it to permatex 3h?

perfect seal is permatex #3 relabelled.

Too much is made about the alpha style in drive water pump. its an easy job and I've seen some bravo and VP pumps that are just as much work due to how much boat is around it. Use a OEM impeller kit and they last a long time.

Impressive how long your jackalope drive has held up. This is why I love the MC-1/R/MR/Alpha/Gen 2 drive series parts are cheap and available. if taken care of they last for ever as long as they are not in too big a boat.

 

[Pmt133]

perfect seal is permatex #3 relabelled.

Too much is made about the alpha style in drive water pump. its an easy job and I've seen some bravo and VP pumps that are just as much work due to how much boat is around it. Use a OEM impeller kit and they last a long time.

Impressive how long your jackalope drive has held up. This is why I love the MC-1/R/MR/Alpha/Gen 2 drive series parts are cheap and available. if taken care of they last for ever as long as they are not in too big a boat.

I mean dad knew what he was doing. He'd never put that in a customer's boat but he had no issue doing it himself. He has said on more than 1 occasion that if I saw what those gears looked like I would also be shocked it's still together (with 1000 hours on it too).

I'm pretty habitual woth the impeller though. 3 years or there about. The gen II impeller is more forgiving as far as not changing but I've seen blades snap off the old R/alpha impeller enough to know I don't want to press my luck lol.

 

[Scott06]

I mean dad knew what he was doing. He'd never put that in a customer's boat but he had no issue doing it himself. He has said on more than 1 occasion that if I saw what those gears looked like I would also be shocked it's still together (with 1000 hours on it too).

I'm pretty habitual woth the impeller though. 3 years or there about. The gen II impeller is more forgiving as far as not changing but I've seen blades snap off the old R/alpha impeller enough to know I don't want to press my luck lol.

yeah he would fix it if it blew up so use what you have. Also depends on what you are putting it behind.

yes the gen 2 water pump is much improved. Only times mine got hot is when I had a chit load of weeds on it after dropping a skiier. Could not believe how fast it was pegged. Took the weeds off and idled till it stopped alarming no issue that was 3 summers ago. I went 6 years on my first impeller and I think this is 6 on the second one, holds at 165-170 with a 160 stat

 

[Pmt133]

yeah he would fix it if it blew up so use what you have. Also depends on what you are putting it behind.

yes the gen 2 water pump is much improved. Only times mine got hot is when I had a chit load of weeds on it after dropping a skiier. Could not believe how fast it was pegged. Took the weeds off and idled till it stopped alarming no issue that was 3 summers ago. I went 6 years on my first impeller and I think this is 6 on the second one, holds at 165-170 with a 160 stat

Never had an issue with heat on the 3.0 or now 4.3. Did have to switch to the older warm manifold setup and 140 stat only because the pump couldn't work with the gen II design 3 stat housing (not enough flow for the volume at low speeds... I think bondo had an issue with this too). The elbows would get too hot. Now everything stays hold hand on it warm... the 160 stat was fine too but the water entering the exhaust manifold for the warm water was dangerously close to 180f and I didn't feel like having crystals form so now the exhaust runs 160f.

 

[Pmt133]

So I was planning on having this wrapped up yesterday but life had other plans. Long and short I spent most of the day fielding calls to my men because the authority pulled a fast one and got rid of our current health benefits (a Cadillac plan mind you) and replaced them with a 97 corolla with 700k miles on the odometer. I'm honestly considering changing careers now because that was really the only thing keeping me, and a lot of others, there.

But anyway, now thats out of the way. I get the drive assembled and set up for a pressure test. I did 20 psi and it held for an hour no issue. I then went on a few hazmat related events and ended up leaving it over night. As of this morning it is still holding 15psi but being I made my pressure tester out of a gear lube pump that's older than me and I used a mikuni popoff tester as the pump for it... and most of the seals in that drive are in fact as old as me... I'd say it's fine. Chances are the popoff tester doesn't perfectly seal.

From what dad recalls, as long as it holds for 15 minutes with moving everything around, that's all that was required for a pass from merc school. So I'm going to send it lol.

 

[Scott06]

So I was planning on having this wrapped up yesterday but life had other plans. Long and short I spent most of the day fielding calls to my men because the authority pulled a fast one and got rid of our current health benefits (a Cadillac plan mind you) and replaced them with a 97 corolla with 700k miles on the odometer. I'm honestly considering changing careers now because that was really the only thing keeping me, and a lot of others, there.

But anyway, now thats out of the way. I get the drive assembled and set up for a pressure test. I did 20 psi and it held for an hour no issue. I then went on a few hazmat related events and ended up leaving it over night. As of this morning it is still holding 15psi but being I made my pressure tester out of a gear lube pump that's older than me and I used a mikuni popoff tester as the pump for it... and most of the seals in that drive are in fact as old as me... I'd say it's fine. Chances are the popoff tester doesn't perfectly seal.

From what dad recalls, as long as it holds for 15 minutes with moving everything around, that's all that was required for a pass from merc school. So I'm going to send it lol.

I think you are good to go. I made my own pressure tester as well used a metal threaded fitting off an old lube pump as well, hose and a 3/4" plumbing test fitting with a scrader valve on it (amazons finest). It leaks a little. The only leak I had was the shift shaft.

I would send it as well. Should at least get you through the season.

Speaking of old seals I resealed a lower and did a water pump on a 1973 evinrude 9.5 that was my grandfathers kicker back in the day. I know the gear seals were original, the water pump I thkn was also original. If it was changed it was prior to mid eighties when I started helping him with maintenance. It was still moving water last summer this year didnt move any at all... It had taken such a set that it no longer sealed against the housing despite still being intact... I gave this and a 12 ft tinny to my neighbors kid to go fishing

 

[Pmt133]

I've filled with some cheap 80w90 in had around. I'll run that a few hours and drop the fluid, checking for water. If it's clean the high-perf. 90w will go back in and I won't worry about it u til the fall