Alpha 1 Gen 2 lower end oil

[Tom Maslar]

I tried my hand at changing the water pump today. All went back together, tried filling with oil from bottom with vent screw removed. It took about a third of a quart and then I could feel pressure building up. It won't take any more oil. There is resistance when I push the plunger to pump the oil. Very confused by this??

 

[Scott Danforth]

keep pressing, some resistance is normal

 

[Tom Maslar]

keep pressing, some resistance is normal

Hi, thanks for replying. It's more than some resistance. I tried squeezing the sides of the bottle while pumping and it seems like no can do? Lots of resistance. Last spring I changed the lower unit oil and encountered no such problems.

 

[Scott06]

I tried my hand at changing the water pump today. All went back together, tried filling with oil from bottom with vent screw removed. It took about a third of a quart and then I could feel pressure building up. It won't take any more oil. There is resistance when I push the plunger to pump the oil. Very confused by this??

I wonder if the small quad ring that seals the 1/4” oil passage between the two halves if the drive got dislodged and may be blocking the passage? Would think it would leak if that is the case. Other thought is how cold is it. if the lube was stored in a cold garage 90 W doesn’t flow very well.

 

[Tom Maslar]

I wonder if the small quad ring that seals the 1/4” oil passage between the two halves if the drive got dislodged and may be blocking the passage? Would think it would leak if that is the case. Other thought is how cold is it. if the lube was stored in a cold garage 90 W doesn’t flow very well.

Hi, I'm thinking pull lower leg and check the seal. I'm reading the manual now and notice I should have put perfect seal on that o-ring. I did not, so, might be the culprit. Got rain tomorrow, should get to it over weekend and will report back. I need to take it apart anyway because I did not use the shaft seal setting plastic piece to set the seal, I did not perfect seal the impeller housing bolts, I installed with the water tube, guide tube, already on the water tube and lastly, the veined sleeve inside the water impeller housing came out at one point and I need to make sure that the veigns are centered across the water exit hole in the housing. I should have read the manual first but I figured I could handle it--nope! Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Tom Maslar]

Also, I don't have an oil monitor. The o-ring is more like an eighth of an inch and looks like to light o-rings sandwiched together

 

[JASinIL2006]

That's the quad ring seal and it's easy to dislodge it when reassembling the drive. I bet it's partially (or fully) blocking the oil passage.

 

[Tom Maslar]

Ok, it's raining today and got a bunch of folks coming over. I bought a new quad ring and should be able to pull the leg tomorrow. I'll report back. There's nothing on the interwebs concerning this.

 

[Tom Maslar]

Ok, it's raining today and got a bunch of folks coming over. I bought a new quad ring and should be able to pull the leg tomorrow. I'll report back. There's nothing on the interwebs concerning this.

 

[Tom Maslar]

So, here's what happened: pulled lower leg, inspected quad ring and it was fine. I inspected the impeller housing and the veined, sleeve insert was 180 out-- no Bueno. I put it back correctly and used the shaft seal tool when installing the shaft seal. I put the water tube guide insert on the impeller housing when installing. There is a plastic and square shaped dam that I forgot to install, so this got done twice. I put a new quad seal on with bellows adhesive on the one side. Bolted it up. Manual says bolt by pitot tube should be set first and then the one under the zinc. Then the fun part: the reason it would not take oil is because the firm plastic tube, in the oil bottle, that has had the plunger on it since last year-- Fell off!!! I was pressure testing the system--basically, without a Guage attached. After I figured that out it was all good from there. She throws water like a whale in heat.

 

[Superjetjim]

That's the quad ring seal and it's easy to dislodge it when reassembling the drive. I bet it's partially (or fully) blocking the oil passage.

Is this the quadring sealing area?

 

[Grub54891]

Edit. Yes it is.

 

[Tom Maslar]

Yes, that's it

 

[Tom Maslar]

It looks like you did not drain the oil before removing the lower leg? That's a lot of oil in comparison to my project.

 

[Grub54891]

Did you have the top plug out when filling?

 

[Tom Maslar]

Absolutely, 100 percent

 

[Tom Maslar]

Anyways, job is all done and I learned a lot. Last year, I did my shift cable, bellows, zincs, u-joint cross and bearing assemblies, plugs, belt, trim and stop limit switches, raw water hose, prop, bilge pump, wiring harness...you get the idea

 

[Superjetjim]

It looks like you did not drain the oil before removing the lower leg? That's a lot of oil in comparison to my project.

Yes that’s correct Tom, learning as I go. I thought it was like an outboard where all the oil was in the lower - know now it isn’t

This is what my Quad washer looked like - is yours the same?

 

[Grub54891]

Yes, that is a quad washer. The only thing different is they don't have that kink in them!
I have a friend who installed his wrong also, he ran it for two years, topping off the oil before each trip, as it leaked a bit from the quad ring. Ended up blowing the upper unit.

 

[Superjetjim]

Yes, that is a quad washer. The only thing different is they don't have that kink in them!
I have a friend who installed his wrong also, he ran it for two years, topping off the oil before each trip, as it leaked a bit from the quad ring. Ended up blowing the upper unit.

Yeah the reservoir on this boat was low (found that kinked washer and oil around the outside of the water pump when I pulled it to change the impeller) - least I’ve found where the oil went and will install a nice new one