gear lub & water mix ?

[ziggy]

this is a general question. but does regaurd the boat listed below.<br />i'm wondering when ya have water intrusion into the lower gear lub, does the water stay mixed with the lub? or will it seperate over time and have the water be on the bottom and lub on the top? <br />i've had my lower off this year and am keeping an eye on my lub. to me it looks a bit milky,(hopeing my eyes are decieving me, but i dought it) and with not to much time on it either. guess my inital thinking was that if i inspect a small amount of lub out the drain hole i will be able to tell if i got a mix or not. but my notion was that the water will seperate and be on the bottom, so when i pull the plug water would come out first. i'm second guessin myself now and think that perhaps it will not seperate, hence why it looks milky when comeing out when water intrusion occurs.

 

[rbezdon]

Re: gear lub & water mix ?

It doesn't usually seperate back out. The churning of the gears whips the mix so much it basically becomes one milky mix.

 

[Hunt]

Re: gear lub & water mix ?

My outdrive oil looked yellowish. I think if you were getting alot of water it might seperate some. After presure testing I found that the upper case was leaking. Since having it resealed the lube looks as good as the day I put it in. I seperated the upper and lower and took the upper in to my mechanic, He charged me $300. to completly reseal and change ujoint. Would have been much more if I had taken the boat to him. Good luck.

 

[Don S]

Re: gear lub & water mix ?

Depends on the gear lube.<br />Mercs HiPerformance is designed to stay mixed. and that is what you should be running in your drive.<br />Gear lube like Volvo's GL5 Synthetic will seperate, along with some aftermarket lubes.

 

[Bondo]

Re: gear lub & water mix ?

In My experience,....... <br />It can take a Week or More to Settle Out,...... <br />But it Always Will,.... <br />Eventually........... <br /><br />The Mobil 1 that I use seems to be able to suspend Alot of water,+ Still be Super Slippery,.......<br />But,... It Eventually settles out.......

 

[ziggy]

Re: gear lub & water mix ?

thanks for the info. right now i'm ambivilant about whether or not i got a mix(a leak). my lub is yellow too like hunt is saying.(from his statement i do have a leak) i let my drive sit for 4 days. let a little drip out the drain hole for a look see. it was not sepearated, just more yellow than new lub + maybe a little milky, but still slippery. last time i pressure tested it (very recently) it held for 15 min. at 10 psi and vac tested at 5.5 hg for 15 min. this was with drive on. could not get more than 5.5 hg on the vac test. so it is leaking above that. i'm under the understanding that the vac test will leak at 7-8 anyways, but i am a bit low there. i'll let a bit more drip out today as i had'er out yesterday. see if there's any change. boat sure is runnin dandy right now (with a low compression cyl. too. dons is gonna kill me for sayin that, a low cyl and runs dandy in one statement, not likely. 90 psi on #1 a little oil in the hole brings it to 105. that's another issue though for later) so hope i don't have a seal problem. not that it would suprise me if i did though. <br />dons, why do you say i should be useing hiproformance lub? i'm useing the mercrusier premium gear lub per what my dealer says i should be useing. am i usein the wrong lub on my model 1 drive?<br />one more note. , seems like a slight difference of opinion here. vatter41 says it won't seperate, bondo say it will, eventually, dons says depends on the lub. hunts sounds like it looks like mine and he did have a seal issue. hummm what's a fella supposed to do......i'm a pessimist so i think i need a seal job. but funds are lacking. guess what i'd like to have happen is to use it the rest of the season(another 2.5 months is a long time), and remove the drive for the winter and have it serviced. assumin i get some more funds that is.<br />another question just came to me too. if i did have a leak. am i correct in the assumtion that if i remove the top vent screw that i would have it leak out there more so than usual as there would be more quanitity of fluid in the drive than there is supposed to be? the proper amount of lub + the water. <br />sorry i'm so long winded, just seems that one question leads to another for me.... thankyou for the help folks, jim

 

[Hunt]

Re: gear lub & water mix ?

My leak was the lower seal of the upper gear case. It dosnt take but a few drops of water to change the color of the lube. Prior to having mine resealed I changed my lube about every 5-10 hours of running. Like you I felt as though there should be more evidence of water intrusion, but since having the upper gear case resealed it is obvious that it was leaking. My lube looks as good as new after 20-30 hours running. If you are going to run it the way it is, I would suggest changing fluid often. Many on here may tell you that you are chancing further damage to your outdrive by doing so, and they are the experts! That is why I had mine resealed. If you seperate the upper and lower you can determine whether the leak is the upper or lower and it will save you some money. Check this link: http://mercstuff.com/howdoi.htm

 

[Don S]

Re: gear lub & water mix ?

dons, why do you say i should be useing hiproformance lub? i'm useing the mercrusier premium gear lub per what my dealer says i should be useing. am i usein the wrong lub on my model 1 drive?

Nothing wrong with the premium either. As long as you are using Merc gear lube.<br /><br />

one more note. , seems like a slight difference of opinion here. vatter41 says it won't seperate, bondo say it will, eventually, dons says depends on the lub.

Eventually, the world will end.<br /><br />If the lube is milky, it's caused by water. <br />Water is not gear lube.<br />A water/gearlube mixture does not lubricate as well as gear lube alone. <br />Drive gears and bearings are expensive.<br />Leaks do not heal, they get worse.<br />I replace a number of drives every year that have nothing in them but water and metal chunks, particles, and shavings.

 

[ziggy]

Re: gear lub & water mix ?

thanks for the help folks. <br />hunt, ya say ya replaced the lower seal in the upper. i believe i have replaced that one too. if yer talkin about the seal at the top of the lower drive shaft, but the seal is in the upper. mine also has a speedy sleeve in place right there on the drive shaft as i had seal wear at that point. so i am quiet leary of that area for a leak. i just went and checked the lub consitancy again. is the same, still yellowish, but i guess that is the discription that fits the best. maybe its a little aireated (sp) but i have changed my mind as that it is milky. this was after a 2 day, 70 mile run on the river + lettin it sit in the river overnight.<br />i hear ya dons. i understand if it is milky it is water, and a leak somewhere and it won't fix it self and i also understand that it will take out more than just a few seals, more like gears and brgs if i let it get the the water only stage. that ain't happenin. at least i would hope that i'm on top of it more than that. i am just trying to figure out what milky looks like. i've seen real milky but not mildly milky. that is my delema and the reason for the post. i feel better about the priemium gear lub now too. thanks for the feedback on that. it is mercruiser gear lub. ask my dealer again about that too. and again "for my old drive" as they put it, they insisted that the preimum mercruiser gear lub was ok. personaly, from my vantage point i just don't trust the dealers insentives as they keep tryin to sell me a new boat. i wonder why?, (retorical question) so i appriciate your input on that.<br />hope i get more boatin in before the world eventually ends too. it sure is exciting,especially on the river. wow, what danger lies ahead on the river?........ thanks, jim