Alpha 1 Gen 2 - gear lube in idle relief ports

[Malibudude]

Hi, I was having no issues with gear lube loss or leaks but after doing a gear lube change on my Alpha 1 I noticed some lube in the idle relief ports. I did some searching but can't find a solid answer on what would be the source of this and why would it juts show up after a lube change? Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[Scott06]

Hi, I was having no issues with gear lube loss or leaks but after doing a gear lube change on my Alpha 1 I noticed some lube in the idle relief ports. I did some searching but can't find a solid answer on what would be the source of this and why would it juts show up after a lube change? Any insight would be appreciated!

Is it gear lube and not engine oil or fogging oil?

This is the only SWAG I can thinking of -If seal in bottom of upper is leaking into exhaust cavity while drive is in full up position does the elevation work out so it drips into exhaust bellows and day lights at relief holes ?

 

[Malibudude]

Is it gear lube and not engine oil or fogging oil?

This is the only SWAG I can thinking of -If seal in bottom of upper is leaking into exhaust cavity while drive is in full up position does the elevation work out so it drips into exhaust bellows and day lights at relief holes ?

Yes it’s definitely gear lube. Interesting thought. I figured it would also show up somewhere else if that was the case

 

[Stinnett21]

Is it gear lube and not engine oil or fogging oil?

This is the only SWAG I can thinking of -If seal in bottom of upper is leaking into exhaust cavity while drive is in full up position does the elevation work out so it drips into exhaust bellows and day lights at relief holes ?

Yeah good question. I'm trying to envision it myself. Are you talking about the oring where the vertical shaft on the lower goes into the upper?

 

[Malibudude]

Yeah good question. I'm trying to envision it myself. Are you talking about the oring where the vertical shaft on the lower goes into the upper?

 

[Malibudude]

Location is where the exhaust exits in the lower side of the gimbal housing

 

[Stinnett21]

How much is leaking? Is it pooling on the ground?

 

[Malibudude]

No, not pooling on the ground. It seemed worse after refilling the leg oil but now the port has a bit of lube if I put my finger inside it. I may have to take it for a ride and see if the oil level drops any in the lube monitor

 

[Stinnett21]

Do you have a lube monitor bottle? If it's allowing water in the lube will milk up in the bottle so you will then know something needs to be done. Has it sat all winter? Sometimes seals seem to get better with use and warm weather. Might just see what happens after a few outings.

 

[dubs283]

Can't tell what type of fluid I'm seeing in your pic. But if you're sure its gear lube then it's gear lube

Pull the drive and perform a visual inspection and pressure test the drive

WAG if it's not a seal would be a failed bell housIng/drive gasket. It provides the seal for the gear lube monitor line valve(s) between the drive and bell housing (if equipped)

 

[Scott06]

Yeah good question. I'm trying to envision it myself. Are you talking about the oring where the vertical shaft on the lower goes into the upper?

yes there is not an oring but a lip seal. Looking at the pic on next post the exhaust bellows are above the idle relief

pull the drive and see if there is gear oil in exhaust cavity. drain and pressure test the drive

 

[Scott06]

Yes it’s definitely gear lube. Interesting thought. I figured it would also show up somewhere else if that was the case

pull the drive and see if you see lube. Any gear lube leak the diagnosis is the same, pull drive and pressure test.
you may also see some if you pull the prop and look inside exhaust cavity.

I just resealed my drive this winter. Wasn’t leaking until I picked up some fishing line on prop seal. Never failed a pressure test, all seals were actually ok only one that looked dried out was the shift shaft seal. Its a 2004 so they all got replaced.

 

[Stinnett21]

Can't tell what type of fluid I'm seeing in your pic. But if you're sure its gear lube then it's gear lube

Pull the drive and perform a visual inspection and pressure test the drive

WAG if it's not a seal would be a failed bell housIng/drive gasket. It provides the seal for the gear lube monitor line valve(s) between the drive and bell housing (if equipped)

But how would it work its way into the exhaust relief cavity which is, I'm guessing, 5 inches forward from there? I guess maybe with drive tilted up it could run through to the exhaust track, through the bellows and back into the ports. Maybe you have something there. Malibudude, you could do what I did recently and pull the exhaust bellows out of there and examine. Re-install the exhaust tube instead. Easy job. That is with the A1G2. Not sure about others. Just a thought.

 

[Stinnett21]

Just saw Scott's post above. He says what really needs to be done. What I said above is just a quick check stop gap measure.

 

[stresspoint]

if oil is leaking from the drive into the exhaust area IMHo there is no point speculating why its there .
2 options .
1# , pressure wash the entire drive area using full strength dish soap from a squirt bottle first to dilute the gear oil that is there , run up to temp , then investigate where the oil is getting into the area in question.

2# pull the drive > pressure test it , inspect O rings and the hose to the fill bottle etc till you find a smoking gun .

water in the drive is never going to end well or stop by itself.

 

[Malibudude]

Ok, thanks for the info. I will pull the drive and p-test. The old oil looked brand new and had no signs of water. It just seemed a bit strange.

 

[flashback]

Do you need to add lube to the monitor often? The plastic fitting on the transom is fragile.

 

[Malibudude]

Do you need to add lube to the monitor often? The plastic fitting on the transom is fragile.

No, not often at all. It just seemed like an odd place for the gear lube to show up and not something common from what I could see