How to fill lower unit with oil

[trucker28]

Dumb question here when filling the lower unit with oil do I fill it with motor tillted up or leave the motor strait down also do I fill intell it comes out the top vent hole or is that to much Thanks for any help Mike
Motor is a force 15 HP

 

[Dave K.]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

I drain & refill with motor straight up & down. Once oil comes out the vent, let sit a while, & then fill again until oil comes out again. Should be full by then.

Good Q too.

 

[trucker28]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

I drain & refill with motor straight up & down. Once oil comes out the vent, let sit a while, & then fill again until oil comes out again. Should be full by then.

Good Q too.

So your saying then once full top it of through the vent hole

 

[Dave K.]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

top it off thru fill hole. the oil will settle in thru the gears in the torpedo. it shouldn't take much more after the first fill, maybe a little more, but not much.

 

[trucker28]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

top it off thru fill hole. the oil will settle in thru the gears in the torpedo. it shouldn't take much more after the first fill, maybe a little more, but not much.

I tried to fill it strait up and down but could not get any out of the bottle so I had to tilt the motor up to fill it dont know if it got enough though

 

[mrwiggles2]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

I bought a pump from Napa that was $20. Fill it with oil, push the plunger and when its coming out the vent I quickly insert top screw then bottom screw. Let is sit a while, then top off from the bottom drain plug. Using the top vent hole is frowned on due to the air pockets it can create.

 

[trucker28]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

I bought a pump from Napa that was $20. Fill it with oil, push the plunger and when its coming out the vent I quickly insert bottom screw. Let is sit a while, then top off from the bottom drain plug. Using the top vent hole is frowned on due to the air pockets it can create.

I dont get it if I open the drain screw again to top it off wont it drain out before I can even top it off

 

[Wishiniwuzfishin]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

If the top plug is in and tightened and the seal is good, it will drain out the bottom if you remove the lower fill plug but it should drain very slowly. Put the bottom fill plug back in as quick as you can after filling. It helps to have clean hands and a good grip on bottom plug before you remove oil bottle (or pump hose etc.) when you do this. If you have the correct size screwdriver for the plug you can sometimes get the screw to "stick" to the screwdriver and quickly insert it in the hole. You should be able to get the bottom plug back in before very little drains out. It gets easier the more you do it. This will give you plenty of oil in the gearcase.

 

[trucker28]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

If the top plug is in and tightened and the seal is good, it will drain out the bottom if you remove the lower fill plug but it should drain very slowly. Put the bottom fill plug back in as quick as you can after filling. It helps to have clean hands and a good grip on bottom plug before you remove oil bottle (or pump hose etc.) when you do this. If you have the correct size screwdriver for the plug you can sometimes get the screw to "stick" to the screwdriver and quickly insert it in the hole. You should be able to get the bottom plug back in before very little drains out. It gets easier the more you do it. This will give you plenty of oil in the gearcase.

i will do that then thank you

 

[Wishiniwuzfishin]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

Just to be clear on my previous post.....the top plug should always be removed when adding oil thru the bottom hole. It should be replaced and tightened before removing oil bottle, hose etc , with bottom plug ready to go in quickly after removing bottle or hose. When the top plug is in and sealed correctly, it creates a vacuum and even with bottom plug removed oil drains much slower than with both plugs removed. The whole process is very simple actually and you'll learn quickly from experience. Since you really can't screw anything up (unless you forget to refill with oil!!!), it is a good DIY job. The small amount of oil that might drain out in the time you remove filler bottle and put plug in will be of no consequence. Just for reference you should be able to do it without loosing more than an ounce (small shot glass) of oil, I would guess.

 

[Dave K.]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

Important: make sure you get NEW gaskets for all LU screws/plugs. Once you open a plug, the gasket is pretty much "shot" & using it again could allow water in to the LU. Get a pump too, they work well & can be reused year to year. Think mine cost 11 or 12 bucks 5 years ago.

 

[wickware]

Re: How to fill lower unit with oil

I will top off from the top using a reduced extension from my tube of oil (rubber or plastic, with my motor straight up vs tilted). The extension allows me to add oil away from the plug?s opening. I will also check the oil?s level with a bent piece of wire (if I can not see the oil).

If you are having to add oil, I would suggest looking for that occasional drip that can turn into a lot. I had never added much or any oil since 1985 until I noticed signs of a leak. I cleaned the external oil and it was back in 8 hours, which led to me replacing the prop shaft seal. I ran a 24-hour leak test w/o getting a drop but I?ll re-check oil at seasonal start-up.

JOW