DPS Lower Water Leak and Prop Shaft Play

[Phil*]

Hello all, I recently purchased a 23' Chaparral with a 7.4 GSI PEFS engine and DP-S1 1.68 ratio drive, all 2000 model year. I've been working through the little bugs and now facing something scary. The drive gear lube is a milkshake with water intrusion. I pressure tested the unit and found a slow leak down, say around 8 psi drops to 5 over 5 minutes but wasn't able to locate the exact source. However, I also found a major leak at the bottom of the outer prop shaft seal when the prop shafts are pressed upward, see video. Oddly the propshafts have some radial play, especially in the up direction as can be seen by the leak that's created.

Any advice on next steps? I'm guessing this isn't normal, haha and have already ordered the tools to remove the retaining ring and pull the prop shafts and figure I'll at least do that and see if anything obvious jumps out. I have a lot of experience in automotive repair and also some marine work but more on v-drives boats. I'm a complete noob when it comes to VP sterndrives so any advice is appreciated. Thanks!View attachment 20231027_132209.mp4

 

[alldodge]

Welcome

Looking at the vid it appears there was water or some other liquid inside the drive. If that is correct then pressure test is done incorrect, should be dry and only with air. Pressure should be no higher then 10 psi and lower is better

Need to start with the manual for the drive. The service manual will provide all info needed to info to test. When I rebuilt my Bravo 3 I used the manual and was able to do it correctly

 

[Phil*]

Thanks for the reply. The drive was drained and empty when pressure tested. I did pour some water in the "cavity" that surrounds the propshaft along with spraying soapy water around the seals in hopes of finding the slow leak. What you are seeing is air escaping between the seal and shaft and bubbling the water when I push on the shaft.

This may sound ignorant but how does one purchase a VP manual? This has been an epic quest. I've searched the VP website and it bascially gives an error when I enter the drive model, I've googled and only found 3rd party ones like Seloc. I've even searched for used ones but can't find the correct year. Thanks.

 

[alldodge]

This is where I would go, they want the serial number or product number
https://www.volvopenta.com/en-us/service-and-support/your-engine/manuals-and-handbooks/

 

[Phil*]

This is where I would go, they want the serial number or product number
https://www.volvopenta.com/en-us/service-and-support/your-engine/manuals-and-handbooks/

Thanks but that's where I was looking with no luck. When I type in my product number for the drive (3868604) it shows 2 tabs, the specifications section is correct so I know the number is right but under the publications tab it only shows "Electronic Parts Catalogue" and when I click on that I get a webpage error. Images attached of the frustration, haha.

 

[alldodge]

Hey @muc can you assist?

 

[alldodge]

I was able to look up the parts breakdown in link below but still not able to find service manual. Hope Muc can assist
https://www.volvopentastore.com/

 

[Horigan]

You need new bearings and seals at a minimum. Checkout Teds Marine Repair on Youtube. He walks you through how to repair this.

Teds Marine Repair

 

[Phil*]

You need new bearings and seals at a minimum. Checkout Teds Marine Repair on Youtube. He walks you through how to repair this.

Teds Marine Repair

Thanks, hope it's only bearings and seals! I discovered Ted's videos a few days ago and they are the best resource I've found so far. I was posting here to better understand if the issue I have has a common root cause to look for and also if there are specifics and things to watch for when only pulling the outer prop shaft since the Ted videos are focused on a complete rebuild of the entire unit. I would love to also get a service manual and have a message into VP asking for a part number on the right one.

 

[dypcdiver]

Do a search online for VPA 7743008 07-2003

 

[Phil*]

Do a search online for VPA 7743008 07-2003

Thanks! I lucked out and found a pdf with that part number and it looks correct for my drive. Got the outer prop shaft pulled out as well. Although the bearings don't look too bad I'll try replacing those and the seals.

 

[BRICH1260]

I purchased my outdrive manual on ebay.