Upper unit problem from a newbie, help

[Richiea26]

Please excuse me, this is my first post. I have an Alpha One gen.1 outdrive. I recently rebuilt the upper unit with all new gears, bearings and seals. The unit runs beautiful and has no unusual sounds coming from it. The problem is that when I checked the oil, I found tiny metallic particles. The particles are aluminum(checked with a magnet)and are so fine that you can't even feel them when you rub your fingers together. Everything spins free and I just can't imagine where the metal is coming from. Please help, Richie

 

[hondon]

Re: Upper unit problem from a newbie, help

Whenever you put a new gearset into one of these drives you can expect to see the evidence of those gears wearing in.The fact that you describe this flac as non magnetic concerns me as well.If you had a bearing race turning in it's seat you would likely hear it.Put a few hours on it while listening carefully, then change the oil again and see how it looks.What if anything did you do with the lower.If that upper went because of lack of oil ,all that flac could be in the lower too depending on the age of this unit.