What happened to my lower unit??

[ThomW]

So I winterized my 2000 Merc 200hp outboard for the cold northern NY winter. I changed the gear lube to ensure there was no water in there to freeze.

Well...I went out today and there is blue (what I am assuming is gear lube) all over the snow around my outboard. We have had a few spells of 15-20 below zero temps here...but with new lube, I can't see any water being in the lower.

What happened? Any ideas? The prop still spins, so its not frozen up. What would have caused the lube to "explode" out? Where would it have come out of? And what should I expect to find come spring?

 

[racerone]

Was there water in the gear oil when you drained it out in the fall. yes or no ?

 

[ThomW]

A little bit. Not a ton, but some. I planned on changing seals in the spring. Why?

 

[racerone]

????----Why-----If there is water in a gearcase there is a leak.!----The right decision is to install a seal kit.

 

[ThomW]

Well, I know that. And that's my plan this spring. My why was directed at what happened to cause oil to come out all over the ground, given that I changed the lube right before storing it? Where would it have come out of and why?

 

[ESM-James]

If you had water in the gearcase when you drained it then you probably have a leak maybe a seal or even drain plug gaskets. It sounds like you already know that. If that is gear lube that is on the ground then the reason you are finding it is most likely the sun is heating up that black mercury gearcase. This causes the gear lube to heat up and expand and build pressure in the gearcase. Under normal conditions this is not a problem but if you have a leaking seal or gasket or drain / fill plug not sealing correctly gear lube will leak out because of the pressure in the gearcase due to the heating of the sun. Feel around on the gearcase with your hand and see where the lube is coming from this may help you identify where your leak is at. Also if your drain was in the bearing carrier behind the prop some lube may have run forward into the exhaust passage around that bearing carrier and is now leaking out because the boat is at a different angle. I hope this is helpful.

 

[ThomW]

I don't know if that is the case. It hasn't been above freezing here in quite some time. I don't know if the sun could heat it up to that extent in these temps....maybe...but I'm not sure. Also, the lube is sprayed all over the snow like it "exploded" out. It doesn't seem like it was just dripping or leaking onto the snow.

 

[Faztbullet]

Are you sure its gear lube or 2 stroke oil????

 

[racerone]

??----Wind will blow dripping gear oil around when you are not looking !

 

[Mercurylips]

I have never seen "Blue" gear lube. I have seen blue 2 stroke oil and I am wondering if something other than your lower unit is faulty?

 

[jimmbo]

Get the gearcase pressure and vacuum tested. Some of Mercs gear oils are indeed blue, as are some two stroke oils. Smell will help in some cases as Gear Oil often stinks worse than rotting fish, or open sewer pits

 

[Dukedog]

may be wrong but think he's sayin' he put tha boat up, not to return to tha water, after changin' tha gear oil and it still blew out???

 

[roscoe]

Crazy ex wife sprayed oil or lube on the ground to screw with your head ?

 

[jimmbo]

Crazy ex wife sprayed oil or lube on the ground to screw with your head ?

Sounds like something my Ex would have done.

 

[Crosbyman]

run your finger down the gearcase ...when it slides you found the leak ...

how about rechecking the gear lube.... is it still full like when you filled it or is it missing oil to a point of needing a "refill"

get some new snow to replace the old stained one and check daily for drips AFTER a good swipe of the rag to remove all the oil

 

[Rick Stephens]

Is it possible one of the teeny water drain holes is plugged up? Not sure if a 200HP Merc has those, all my kickers have. If they get plugged up the lower will have a pocket full of water to freeze.

 

[ThomW]

I think I figured it out!

First, I don't have any ex wives, so that theory is out.

Second, when I said "blue" I was meaning the Blueish greenish color that Mercury's gear lube is. Exact color matching was tough as it was mixed with snow and diluted throughout the snow and ice. Anyway....

So.....late fall I swapped out my old motor 2-stroke for a newer 2-stroke. The new motor had the oil pump removed and was run on pre-mixed gas, where as my old one still had the oil pump. So...long story short...when I switched motors on the pontoon, I didn't remove the oil tank from boat, and just put a plug on the oil lines until this spring when I was planning to pull the tank from under the seat in the boat. They oil lines were laying underneath the boat, kinda tucked away where the gas line and throttle cables come to meet the motor.

Looking around I see that the plug from one of the lines in missing. So... maybe the heat changes from the sun warming up the boat through the shrink wrap was enough to pressurize the oil tank and pop the plug out and allow the 2 stroke oil to start leaking? Then the wind blew it all over, making it look like a spray pattern and/or an explosion from somewhere? The lower unit was covered with oil too. Haha.

It did get into the 40's this weekend, so I pulled plugs on lower and it still had gear lube in it...so I'm hoping everything is fine and it was in fact just oil dripping and blowing all over. Now I just got a big mess to clean up in the back yard!!

Thanks for all the input everyone!

 

[Rick Stephens]

Righteous.