Bravo 2 Lube Oil Seepage

[PigInAPoke]

After draining and refilling the gear oil, I wiped everything down well and washed the outside of the sterndrive to make sure there were no leaks. Alas...

I am getting a seep from where the driveshaft housing and the gear housing mate up -- rearmost of the housings from about 2" in front of the anode bolt to the rear -- about 3" of seep along the seam on both sides (as highlighted in picture). I did not disassemble the case nor loosen the 4 bolts at any time that I refilled the gear lube, but I did pull the driveshaft housing top cover off prior to draining the oil.

Looking at the drawings for the B2, it appears as though there is only one o-ring seal between the two cases? No other gasket? It also looks like there is an open area (blue arrow) in the gear housing casting between the rearmost 2 bolts that bind the two cases together and and the anode bolt. Plus, there seems to be a small rectangular slot in that area...

So, do I have something to worry about before putting it in the water?

Or is it likely that when I pulled the cover off the top and leaked lube all over the place, that some of it found its way into that cavity and it is just working its way out?

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Fun Times]

Hi there, the main oil quad seal is item number 4 in your diagram. # 3 is for the water passage seal and 22 (not visible) is for the driveshaft seal.

When you removed the top cap, did a lot of oil seem to spill out? Was the drive level when you removed the top cap? Usually you don't get a whole lot of oil spill out when you remove the top cap.

When you filled the drive up from the bottom drain plug, was there a lot of resistance while pumping the oil and did you by chance pump harder to fill it up quicker? What was the ambient air temperature when you filled the drive?

If it was cold and/or a lot of r?sistance, then it is possible that maybe the quad oil seal was compromised during filling and possible leaking oil now.

After clean up, How much oil still seems to be leaking ?

 

[PigInAPoke]

I need to rephrase what actually happened... When I pulled the top cap, the sterndrive was lowered and very little, if any, lube came out. But I also started loosening the back plate/cover (which is part #1 on the Universal Joint drawing) and quite a bit leaked out. I tightened that plate back up before fully removing the plate, but mashed the o-ring seal (P/N 12708) in the process. The boat sat for 3-4 months like that -- lube dripping out of the mashed o-ring, until I got to pulling the prop and properly draining the lube. When I drained the lube, I fully removed the that back plate and put a new o-ring in prior to refilling.

There was no noticeable resistance when refilling. Temperature was about 60F when refilling. The amount that seems to be coming out is very slight -- if I clean it up, there will not be anything real noticeable for many hours, but the next morning there will be a smear of lube down both sides of the skeg. I might put a clean pan under to see how much comes out, but I would have to say less than a thimble-full over 24 hours.

 

[alldodge]

If I understand you correctly, you still have a seep leak between the upper and lower housing and the rear cover is not leaking. If this is the case you need to separate the lower housing, clean the surfaces and install a new quad ring item 4 in your drawing

 

[PigInAPoke]

Having never split the case or touched the bolts on this 2010 sterndrive with less than 75 hours on it, I have to ask -- Is this something common -- that the quad ring seal gets damaged if you pull the top and/or back cover of the upper unit? Or is damaged during pumping new lube into the unit? Just wanting to understand the failure mode...

Thanks

 

[alldodge]

Normally the quad ring never leaks, and pumping lube will not damage it or top or rear seals. It could be that the bolts holding the two haves together have loosened but even that would be out of normal.

I would check the bolts/nuts to see if any are loose, and whether you find they are or not I suggest separating the halves, inspect and replace quad ring.

The good thing about the bravo drive is there is no worry about making sure the drive is in or out of gear, and there are no water tubes, just O rings and drive shaft coupler. Easy on, easy off, well it is heavier