Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

[tpenfield]

When I did a quick check of the outdrive oil condition after hauling the boat out for the season, I noticed that the port side engine was a bit 'milky'. The starboard engine was fine.

So today, I drained the oil from the port outdrive ( still installed on the boat ). The first ounce or two of fluid came out milky, then the rest of the oil (2 quarts) came out not milky :noidea: It looked fine . . .

I let the outdrive drain throughout the day and the reservoir emptied as well, and as expected.

So, I was expecting to get lots of milky oil and got very little . . . I'm not sure what to make of it? Any ideas ???

I do plan on doing a pressure test of the port outdrive, but I am wondering if there are any thoughts about why I would get just a few ounces of milky oil and then the rest turned normal?

FWIW - both outdrives were drained before the season and filled with the Mercruiser performance gear lube ( emerald green stuff)

 

[bajaunderground]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

oil floats on water? I really have nothing scientific to add....

Just personal advice for you...stay out of Walmart!!!

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

oil floats on water? I really have nothing scientific to add....

Just personal advice for you...stay out of Walmart!!!

I have stayed Walmart free this weekend

Still wondering why the milk shake was not more mixed in with the full amount of the oil . . . maybe just started to leak? :noidea:

 

[bajaunderground]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Residual mositure? Since it was done after winterizing, there was a little left? And, since you haven't run it since the last lube change it never got all 'milkshaked' up...mind you this is merely speculation?!

You know what's next? Pressure test, new seals, etc...hell, you're smarter than most on here (no insult meant) you know what it means...at best you're looking for someone to tell you that it's _____ or _____ not leaky seals?

~Brett

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

probably leaky seal(s) the boat has been run for 50 hours since the oil change during the pre-season prep. . . . I would have expected the oil & water to be much better mixed throughout the drive . . . . so just seems strange the way the milky oil was so isolated in the outdrive.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

probably leaky seal(s) the boat has been run for 50 hours since the oil change during the pre-season prep. . . . I would have expected the oil & water to be much better mixed throughout the drive . . . . so just seems strange the way the milky oil was so isolated in the outdrive.

Ayuh,.... How longs it been sittin, Ted,..??

Water is heavier than oil, 'n starts to fall to the bottom as soon as ya quit stirrin' it up,...

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Ayuh,.... How longs it been sittin, Ted,..??

Water is heavier than oil, 'n starts to fall to the bottom as soon as ya quit stirrin' it up,...

The boat has been sitting for about 1 month . . . I figured that any water in the outdrive would settle to the bottom (Lower unit) . . . I'm just surprised that the rest of the oil looks fine, having no visible signs of water. As I drained the outdrive, it was about 2 ounces of milkshake, then 60+ ounces of good oil. . .

I'll see if I can get a leak test in tomorrow . . . else it won't be for a while.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Quick Update:

I did my outdrive pressure test this morning. . . I did what I would call an "in place" pressure test by disconnecting the oil line from the gear oil reservoir and fitting my pressure test equipment to the hose. I figured that this would test all aspects of the oil system and outdrive seals, so if it were leaking at the hose, fittings, etc. I would be able to isolate it.

Here is my leak tester . . . once again re-purposed as a outdrive pressure tester . . . hooked up to the gear oil line.



As you can see I put 10 psi to the 'system'. There were no obvious leaks, and the system was holding 10 psi no problem. I also went around all of the probable areas for leak with some soapy water spray and look for bubble accumulation . . . hose connections and fittings up at the engine and in the bell housing area, the drain plugs on the outdrive and the prop shaft seal . . . also the area where the outdrive mates to the bell housing, etc.

No sign of leaks anywhere, even after 10 - 15 minutes of 10 psi. Would that be a decent test ???



So, I am not sure why I was seeing the milky oil at the bottom of the outdrive. Here is the oil that I drained from the outdrive & reservoir yesterday . . . mostly good oil, just some milky stuff when it first started to drain, but it is covered up by the 'good' oil. Also, the gear lube that I use.

I wish that I had taken a picture of the milky stuff that first came out,for comparison, but I did not (sorry).




So, I could not find any leakage in the outdrive or oil system . . . I am wondering if the lube that was in there before was the wrong sort of stuff and the residual amount that remained caused the new gear oil to be cloudy in appearance :noidea:

Thoughts, comments????

At this point I am not planning on a prop seal replacement over the winter. Just a normal re-fill of the outdrive lube.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Another update . . .

found it !!!

Drive shaft seal . . .



Pretty green oil in the port side bellows when I removed the outdrives just now. Port side pictured above. The starboard drive looked fine.

I guess I'll be reading up on replacing the upper seal(s) on these things (Bravo 3) . . . I hope it is the easier of the seals to replace ??? :noidea:

I suppose that I should do an additional pressure test now that the outdrive is off . . . just to verify the drive shaft seal as the issue.

Another update photo:

I did a pressure test with the outdrive off and was able to see the tell-tale billowing bubbles at the top of the drive shaft seal area. Very slow leak, hardly reduces the pressure on the leak test side of the gauge.


Based on this finding, I am not sure why I would find the couple of ounces of milky oil in the outdrive, as there was no water in the bellows, just the oil mentioned above.

Anyway, I will add this to the winter 'fix-it' list . . .

 

[84EdH]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

I think Bondo figured out why your water was on bottom, and not all mixed through oil. It sat a month, and the water just separates from the oil, and sinks. I am sure if you ran the drive with the frothy water/oil mix on the bottom, you would get a mix through the whole lot. (if there was enough to show up diluted like that ).

I am surprised it held 15 minutes with no leak showing. I did find a leak on my mc-1 drive at the shift shaft seal only after wiggling the shaft around a bit. maybe your drive shaft seal would show leak when spinning?
glad you found the problem!

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Yea, I don't think there was much water in the outdrive, based on where the leak was (drive shaft rather than prop shaft) I figured that since there was milky oil in the outdrive, I needed to find the problem . . . it took a while, but it looks like I found it. Probably just started leaking during the season . . . still wondering how water got in there, since the source of the leak is not exposed to water. Maybe just from condensation, etc as the drive heated and cooled during/after use.

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Drive shaft seal . . .I guess I'll be reading up on replacing the upper seal(s) on these things (Bravo 3) . . . I hope it is the easier of the seals to replace ???

Piece of cake for you Ted as that top drive shaft seal is what I needed to replace on my Bravo 3 last year when I found gear oil in the bellows.

Need the spanner wrench, 91-17256, to take the retainer nut off and pull the ujoint/bearing assembly out of the case.
A vice and the wrench to hold the assembly while you remove the nut for the yoke.
I bought the "carrier assembly" that had the new seal already installed.
Re-assemble in the vice/wrench setting the rolling torque/bearing pre-load.
Put assembly back in the case and tighten the ring nut.

Chris has a nice video on setting the rolling torque.

The one other thing to note from the manual that was a little confusing to me that I'm still not quite sure if it could even get disturbed by simply removing the ujoint assembly, is in serv man #28 page 3a-58, mentions about having the proper marks lined up before installing the assembly. I had the back cover off anyway when I did mine so I could make sure the marks were properly aligned.

Maybe one of the other guys will chime in that if simply removing the ujoint assembly then this is of no issue for you.

Mark

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Thanks, Mark.

I'll check out Chris' video. I did check out 1 video last night and recalled something about 'timing marks'. I also have Manual #28 on my computer, so I'll be reading up on that.

I should probably check the other drive while the tool box is opened (right?)

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Just a quick update on this thread from last Fall . . .

I ordered the 'spanner wrench' right here on iBoats. :thumb:

The parts that I need to replace the drive shaft seal are:

Mercruiser # 86779A1 (Carrier Assembly)
Mercruiser 25-861844 (O-ring)

Outdrive serial # is below in my sig. Are those the correct parts (older version Bravo 3 ?)

I did not see those on iBoats . . .

Also need a dial torque wrench . . . Looks like those are around $150 . . . I assume that I should get one that has a 0-30 in-lb reading versus some that have a 0-100 in-lb. Considering that the rolling torque needs to be about 4-6 in-lbs . . . I figure that the 0-30 range would be more accurate. Thoughts??? :noidea: Is $150 about the going rate for a decent wrench??

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

yep, those are the same parts I ordered for replacing the seal on my B3.

I bought this 0-30 inch pound dial torque gauge as this was the brand recommended by a good mechanic bud and is just slightly more than what you list:
Inch Pound Graduations | Torque Gauges | Seekonk

Mark

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

yep, those are the same parts I ordered for replacing the seal on my B3.

I bought this 0-30 inch pound dial torque gauge as this was the brand recommended by a good mechanic bud and is just slightly more than what you list:
Inch Pound Graduations | Torque Gauges | Seekonk

Mark

Seekonk Tools . . . I suppose I could drive over to Seekonk (MA) and pick one up

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

UPDATE:

I got the Seekonk wrench today. I think they made it to order, as it has a calibration certificate dated yesterday.

So, now I can take a break from hull structure repair by fixing the outdrive.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

UPDATE:

I got the Seekonk wrench today. I think they made it to order, as it has a calibration certificate dated yesterday.

So, now I can take a break from hull structure repair by fixing the outdrive.

Ayuh,.... Nice toy,....

 

[bajaunderground]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Ted,

As they say...if it has **ts, wheels or floats, you'll have trouble with it!

Glad to see you moving right along!

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Some Milky Oil from the Outdrive . . .

Ayuh,.... Nice toy,....

Yup, . . . although, I hope that I don't have to use it that often. I noticed that the thing 'wants' to be calibrated on a yearly basis. Maybe I could rig something up to check it. . . if it is out of whack, the factory is close by, so I could drop it off.