OMC Stringer Leaking Oil

[Ghuds]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and fairly new to stern drive boats. I've had v drives and jets in the past but the current boat is the first I/O. We bought the boat 5 years ago for next to nothing because the drive was seized. Had the drive rebuilt and it worked great - very solid reliable boat. Unfortunately we weren't able to use the boat the last two seasons. I winterized it before it was stored. A couple weeks ago I pulled out out to prep it for the summer, changed the outdrive and engine oil. The upper case was dry. The next morning there was oil leaking from a small breather hole on the starboard side of the lower case. I assume its coming from the upper case. Is it possible that the seals failed in the upper case allowing oil to enter the lower housing somehow? Would there be something else to check first? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[southkogs]

Is is continuously leaking, or did you have some old run down while you were filling the upper?

It's possible for the upper seals to go, and that would allow the gear oil to look like it's leaking down below. I guess I would have expected to see it at the swivel before through the weep hole on the lower. The fill location on some of the uppers had a "dipstick" of sorts on the fill screw ... does yours? And is it holding it's oil? Did you also change the lube in the lower? I'm wondering if you don't just have some spillage leaking out. If you suspect a leak, a pressure test would be the way to find out.

Welcome aboard.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Could have had mud and water freeze in the lower, cracking the case

 

[kenny nunez]

The lower seals of the pinion housing may be where the oil is leaking from. The pinion shaft is chrome plated in the area where the seals contact the shaft. The plating sometimes starts to peel off. It takes some special holding tools to replace the shaft and to properly position the seals in the housing. And of course the gear case must be pressure and vacuum tested.

 

[Ghuds]

Well I finally got around to looking at the drive again. Yes, I changed the oil in the intermediate housing, upper and lower. The oil in the intermediate and lower housings was clean and full when I drained them. The upper case was petty much dry this morning, all the oil I put in it drained out. I separated the lower from the upper and put some oil in the upper to see if I could find where it was leaking. After a few minutes, I saw it seeping from the shaft area, there was no oil anywhere else in the lower case where they join together. We are supposed to go on a trip in a week, so I don't have time to tear the thing apart to see what's going on. Also, I can't pull the boat out of the water everyday to refill the upper case, it's going to just keep leaking out. Plus, I think the fish and game people at the ramp might frown upon me launching a boat leaking oil. Here's my thought..... Fill the upper case with grease instead of oil, I know this isn't recommended, or a long term fix, but it might give us a few days on the water. Is this even a possibility, or will it cause damage to the drive?
Thanks everyone for the responses, I appreciate it.

(As a side note, there's only 1 shop in the state that even works on these drives so you can imagine how busy they are.)

 

[southkogs]

I would advise against doing that. The upper gear case is always spinning - if the engine is on, it's turnin'. I can't imagine that the gear wouldn't create a pocket (effectively drill a hole) in the grease, and then fling the excess grease off themselves ... leading to an eventual lock up. Not to mention, if lube can get out ... water can get in.

I think I'd either bag takin' the boat, or I would look for a used upper with the right gear ratio.

 

[Ghuds]

Thanks for the input. I think I’ll take it apart as far as I can without any special tools.

 

[Redrig]

If you could see that seal and had the water pump off ,you were 90% of the job done .just replace those seals and throw it back together . Someone can get you those seals before your trip.

remove shaft , find a big socket ,pound out old seals ,replace seals with r tv , put her back together and go boating

 

[Ghuds]

Thanks for the info. Ill give it a shot. I appreciate it!

 

[kenny nunez]

If you decide to replace the seals get a 1/8” drill bit and drill a hole in the seal, then with a self tapping screw you will be able to pull the seals out one at a time. If the chrome band on the shaft is peeling off or bumpy from rust building between the steel part of the shaft it will not hold oil.
In case the shaft is good be very careful putting the upper seal on the shaft as the lips will tend to reverse the seal edge and the spring will fall off. The 2 seals are “back to back” and the lower one goes on easy. Use #2 black Permatex to seal the water pump parts.
I still have the OMC tools that correctly install the seals, I just could not throw them away when I retired.

 

[Ghuds]

Thanks for the advice. Looks like next weeks project.

 

[Ghuds]

Ok, I removed the drive, separated the upper case, removed the ball gear, water pump assembly and upper bearing housing. I didn't remove any of the steering parts - there probably isn't any leaking going on with them. It wasn't as bad as I had expected. All the parts looked good (we had the drive rebuilt after we bought the boat). The case was not cracked, but there was some oil in the water pump case - probably from running the boat after I changed the fluids a couple weeks ago. There was no rust in the housing, so it hadn't been leaking long. Just from looking at it I suspect the upper driveshaft seals must be where it's leaking oil down to the lower unit. I have a seal puller and install kit, so I'm not too concerned about that process. I ordered an entire upper case seal kit, should be here on Monday.

Now I'm at the point of removing the driveshaft nut, gear and shaft (here's where it gets tricky). I don't have the tools to hold the pinion gear while I remove the nut. I think I might be able to hold the gear with a rubber oil filter wrench and use an impact on the nut. Not sure how tight the nut is torqued. Does this sound like a decent way to remove the nut? Or, do I even need to remove the shaft? Can the seals be R&R'd without removing the shaft?
I sure do appreciate all the advice!

 

[kenny nunez]

The seals are installed after the shaft is installed. You need to be very careful with the upper seal, put a few pieces of vinyl tape on the shaft to guide the seal lips over the shaft with the spring facing up, then pull the tape out and install the lower seal with the spring facing down. Hopefully the seal surface on the shaft is good and shiny. Leave the pinion nut alone, the nut is torqued to 75-100 lbs with Loctite and the shaft is also sealed in the gear with Loctite. If you remove the nut you will need a new one.

 

[Ghuds]

Ok, thank you for the advice. And happy 4th!

 

[Ghuds]

Pulled the seals - there’s a small tear at the spring on the upper seal. Hopefully that’s where the leak was. We’ll see after I reseal the case and pressure test it. Thanks again for your help!

 

[kenny nunez]

I bet that the last person who worked on your drive pressed the shaft in after the seals were installed. The tool that protects the seal is similar to a thimble that is tapered and guides the seal over the end of the shaft.

 

[Ghuds]

Possibly. When I re assembled it, the big o ring that is supposed to go around the water pump housing was missing. I don't know if that would cause an oil leak - I installed a new one. After assembling it I pressure and vacuum tested it. I don't know how long I should have waited before removing the gauges - it held for over an hour before I took it off pressure. I filled the case with oil and it's holding. Before I disassembled it, it wouldn't hold oil at all. It started leaking from the shaft immediately. I'm going to let it sit overnight before I attach the upper case to the lower unit. Hopefully I'm back in business!

 

[kenny nunez]

You got it right. If it was going to leak it would not have held pressure or vacuum within 10 minutes. The large “O” ring around the water pump was supposed to keep exhaust gasses from entering the in coming water. Good job.

 

[Ghuds]

Thanks so much for your help, you have really made it a lot easier! I have two more questions. I got everything re installed, and I'm re connecting the shift cable. I assume the tensioner pawls ride on the core wires, is that correct? I pulled the cotter pin out of the left hand hole, is it supposed to be stored in the right hand hole? It will not go in the hole. (There was no cotter pin there when I removed the cable.) As far as I can tell everything went right back to where it was. There's not much of the cable sheath in the housing where the pawls are located, hopefully that's correct.
I don't want to run it until I know the shift cable is correct.

 

[kenny nunez]

On the top back side of the shift converter box there are 2 levers that are spring loaded, hold them out with a screwdriver, install the cables over the pulleys. The cotter pin is there to hold the spring tension off of the cable when removing the cable and is supposed to stay in place until the cable is re-installed. After the cables are seated, pull out the screwdriver and the cotter pin and then proper cable tension will be set. The cotter pin is stored by hanging on a piece of wire. Good luck