Best Recommended Alpha 1 Lower Unit Oil

[Fastatv]

Going to change the lower unit oil on the 1989 Alpha 1 in a couple of days. I know there is the Mercruiser brand, but are their other, less expensive and more available brands that some of you use and recommend? Thanks, Rick

 

[agallant80]

Re: Best Recommended Alpha 1 Lower Unit Oil

I used the generic walmart lower end gear lube and never had an issue. With that said I went back to the merc stuff. No reason why besides I was just always wondering if I was using the correct stuff. When I had an alpha drive sure they are only $1,000 to replace but now that I have a bravo drive I would like to avoid damaging a $6,000 drive. Peace of mind I guess.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Best Recommended Alpha 1 Lower Unit Oil

Going to change the lower unit oil on the 1989 Alpha 1 in a couple of days. I know there is the Mercruiser brand, but are their other, less expensive and more available brands that some of you use and recommend? Thanks, Rick

Believe me, you'll get "recommendations" from people here and on other boards that will include EVERY BRAND in radioland!

Understand that there IS NO NMMA, SAE, or API "Marine" gear oil "specification".

Mercury Marine, AM$OIL, Volvo Penta, and OMC(BRP) claim their "branded" oil is "formulated" to still meet "requirements" with water contamination" and AM$OIL even has posted some "test results" claiming up to 10% contamination performance etc.

If you do a search for gear lubricant "D3233B water contamination" you'll find that just about all the gear lubricant manufacturers test for performance with water contamination. (the possible reason NMMA hasn't bothered to come up with a specific marine spec for gear oil)

A LOT of people including a rather experienced tech that resides on this board, use Mobil 1 syn 75W-90 oil.

Since synthetic oil will not be thicker and MORE viscous when cold, you might notice a little easier shifting when the drive is cold. and when you change it, it will drain faster.

You can buy the stuff above just about anywhere......including "Wallymart"


ymmv.


Regards,


Rick

 

[Fastatv]

Re: Best Recommended Alpha 1 Lower Unit Oil

Thanks guys. I will go with the 75/90 Mobile One Syn. Just wanted to be sure that was a good idea. Rick

 

[TonyTigerman]

Thanks HT32BSX115! Was looking for confirmation before changing my lower gear oil and this was very helpful. Just thought I'd drop a line and say "thanks" for the post and knowledge sharing!

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