Re: outdrive oil leaking
Even keeping the reservoir full won't keep oil from being slung around in the bellows or continue to dump in to the bilge but, depending on how bad the leak, is the way to keep from destroying the drive. That does not mean you should put off getting it checked out and repaired in case the leak were to quickly worsen and empty the bottle.
Even in my case, I noticed the level in the bottle going down a little bit and topped off the bottle thinking maybe it was just an air pocket that filled from when I did the last lube change. Then after the next time I noticed it had gone down a little also and topped it off again. Then one day I noticed lube on the ground beneath the drain plug hole and the bottle was down even further that alerted me to check the bilge and found the lube in there.
Now I started looking for a leak in the bottle/hose going back to the transom and found nothing. At this point I cleaned what I could in the bilge and on the ground then topped off the bottle and did not start the boat. Came back a few days later and sure enough, lube on the ground and in the bilge. (Note that a pro would have not needed to do that last step as they would have already known what it was but I did not know any better at the time and wanted to verify it was losing lube just by sitting there without running).
Got help from my mates here at IBOATS on what needed to be done (pressure test, seals, tools) and clarifying what I was reading in the manual and now no more leak.
Mark
