Water in vdrive

[Pschneider]

Bought a boat, 97' centurion and discovered the drive oil had turned to butter, thick and brownish yellow. I have only run it for 5 hours. Can the oil turn bad that fast? Pressure tested the cooling coil, no leaks at 85 psi. No oil leaking from the prop shaft. Any ideas on where the water has come from? I have downloaded the Walter drive manual and can not find any possible leak locations. Could cracked oil pump lines allow the pump to suck moist air into the drive? Mechanic said he pulled the dipstick before I purchased it but how could the oil go from fine to bad so fast if the coil is not leaking?

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: Water in vdrive

Any chance you got a lot of rain water in the boat. Some seals will hold pressure one way but let water enter freely?

 

[Don S]

Re: Water in vdrive

Oil cooler failure.

 

[Pschneider]

Re: Water in vdrive

Any chance you got a lot of rain water in the boat. Some seals will hold pressure one way but let water enter freely?

I have only had the boat for a week and I suspect that the previous owner left the drain plug out and maybe sunk the boat partially. I suppose rain water could have been the culprit too. The confusing part is that the mechanic claims he pulled the dipstick and the oil looked fine during my presale inspection. I have driven it for around 5-6 hours and suddenly the water shows up and the pressure switch fails. As a new boat owner I pulled every plug and cap to check out all the areas of the boat and I had no water in where the drive or bilge pump is. I suspect that the dipstick was never pulled and the water was there before I bought it.

As for Don's post the first thing I had the mechanic check was the cooling coil and he pressure tested it and it does not leak.

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: Water in vdrive

Very hard to kill a VD. Maybe the water was there but settled to the bottom. The stick would look good till you ran the engine. I would change the fluid several times.