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Out-drive help

keithkz

keithkz

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I drained the gear lube out of my Volvo out-drive this evening. While attempting to pump the new gear lube in with one of those hand pump things that pump oil out of a quart container, a 1 1/2" piece of that clear, plastic tubing fell inside the drain hole (bottom of the fin of the out-drive). The tubing that came with the hand pump thing is the same diameter as the drain plug hole so I had a smaller piece of tubing taped partially inside and then that smaller piece would fit inside the drain plug hole for me to then pump the new lube in. So now I have that piece in my out-drive.

Is this a problem? I cannot think of a way to retrieve it out of that same hole as it is now in that cavity where the gear/shaft for the prop is at. Do I just let the gear in there grind that piece of tubing up or would that cause even more problems? Can I maybe run the boat around the lake for a few minutes and then pull it back out and drain that fluid again and change it out again? Or do I have to take this to my Bennington dealer and have them remove the entire bottom of the out-drive to retrieve this piece of plastic. I'm sure hoping I don't have to do the latter.
 
Houston, we have a problem.

Sorry to hear this. Do NOT turn your motor over until you talk to the shop. They may have a way to fish it out. Plumbers have mini cameras on their snakes (okay Derrick, don't get too carried away with that one) so I'd hope there's a way to get that out of there.

Do NOT run your motor!
 
Another option may be to try to flush it out by refilling and draining the lube over and over. Use the same lube. You also might want to put it in backwards so gravity helps you get the tubing down and out of the drain hole. Good luck. Don't start it up though. You might take a small piece of wire, put a short 90 degree bend in it, and stick it in the drain hole and see if you can feel it in there. If you feel it, work it towards the hole and see if you can get it to come out.
 
kaydano said:
Another option may be to try to flush it out by refilling and draining the lube over and over. Use the same lube. You also might want to put it in backwards so gravity helps you get the tubing down and out of the drain hole. Good luck. Don't start it up though. You might take a small piece of wire, put a short 90 degree bend in it, and stick it in the drain hole and see if you can feel it in there. If you feel it, work it towards the hole and see if you can get it to come out.
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Derrick will run with this one ...........
 
Hate to say it, but I think the lower will need disassembled to get that out.

Now "IF" the lower on an outdrive disassembles like the lower on an outboard, it should not be a MAJOR issue.

You def. don't want to start it up and have the outdrive spinning or by-by gears .......

See page 9 here, may not be EXACTLY the same, but you can get an idea of what it looks like inside .......

http://boatinfo.no/lib/volvo/manuals/aq270drive.html#/10
 
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kaydano said:
Houston, we have a problem.

Sorry to hear this. Do NOT turn your motor over until you talk to the shop. They may have a way to fish it out. Plumbers have mini cameras on their snakes (okay Derrick, don't get too carried away with that one) so I'd hope there's a way to get that out of there.

Do NOT run your motor!
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SEMPERFI8387 said:
Derrick will run with this one ...........
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Sheesh, what do you guys take me for? This person is in a real bind and you think I'm going to sit here and jokes about putting it in backwards and having a camera on your snake to find that elusive thing everyone keeps trying to find? My face just went 50 shades of Grey in what you all must think of me. Sad I tell ya.

As for the tube lost in the hole, I have to agree that I think your best bet is to pull it apart. If the tube just barely fits through then it will be next to impossible to be able to get something small enough to be able to grab it even if you did get it close to the hole. Grab a pair of needle nose pliers and open them enough that you could grab the tube, now look at the pliers, they probably won't fit through the hole. So you'd have to try to get it by the hole and then use something like a dental pik to pierce the tubing and hope it doesn't rip when trying to pull it out. Yup, best bet is to take it apart. Sorry.
 
This is just my $.02. I would probably run it. That little piece of soft plastic hose will get eaten up pretty quick. I would also call Volvo Penta and ask them. Disclaimer: remember this is just my opinion. And, didn't that pump have a fitting that screws into the outdrive?
 
I'm all for a little fishing trip with a wire and bend previously stated. Once you find it you can always heat up the wire and try to melt a hole into the tube, then pulling it out that way if you cannot grab it.
 
No, that pump just has an open pastic tubing end. So I still need to correct that before I endup filling the outdrive back with gear lube.Man I REALLY do not want to take this thing to a dealer or take it apart although I have removed the bottom portion of an outboard before so it's not like I totally don't know what I'm doing here.
 
cwag911 said:
This is just my $.02. I would probably run it. That little piece of soft plastic hose will get eaten up pretty quick. I would also call Volvo Penta and ask them. Disclaimer: remember this is just my opinion. And, didn't that pump have a fitting that screws into the outdrive?
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Honestly, and not just because I'm lazy, but that's what I thought as well. I have a hard time believing a little piece of plastic like that is going to do any harm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the area that it's in, isolated from the rest of the area above? I'll call Volva Penta just to be sure. I have no problem with putting new lube in, running it in the lake for a few minutes, pulling it back out, and then draining the lube and putting new back in.
 
Okay this is along the same thing that happened to Keith so hear me out................My retirement "job" is driving a school bus doing field trips/sports trips...............I was adding oil to the engine one day and snapped the cap off the quart of oil bottle. You know that little plastic piece that remains on the bottle that the cap was attached to????? Well when I went to pour it in the oil filler hole opening that little plastic piece came off the bottle and.............. that's right................went directly into the engine! There wasn't a chance to fish that little piece out of the engine. (I tried) So I called the mechanic over and he said to just start it up and don't worry about it. It'll get pulverized in there and dissipate. Now I know we're talking about a big diesel engine and a Volvo outdrive but it could be the same principle............
 
I'm gonna go with Carl and Daril, the plastic or nylon tube should either find a spot to lay, or get chopped up like in a blender.

I would get out the earmuffs and run it at home, not the lake. Run it forward and reverse for a minute or so, then drain it into a clean container to see if it has been chopped up or if it has found a place to hide in there.

Of course, that's free advice, and worth every penny......
 
Ouch. Yeah see what Volvo says, or better yet your local authorized Volvo Dealer. If it were me, I'd be very tempted to run it, and flush two or three times into a strainer to make certain most of the tubing is recaptured. My worry would be not knowing if the tubing survived for a period of time just waiting for the wrong moment to get ground up.

*edit - Geoff and I think alike, I just type slower!
 
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So I can use ear muffs on this outdrive just like I used to on my outboard motors? If so then yeah that's exactly what I will do.
 
Well I just called Wilson Marine in Brighton, MI....they have a HUGE service department there and they are an authorized Bennington and Volvo Penta dealer. He agreed with the suggestion above with filling it back up up gear lube, placing the ear muffs on the outdrive, running it in forward for a minute and then in reverse for a minute, then draining it with a strainer to see if it came out, and then putting fresh lube back in. So I guess that's what I will do. Hope I don't cause a bigger problem but I guess I am prepared to take that risk because as you can imagine the marinas are all backed up right now with everyone getting their boats repaired.
 
Ok, HEAR ME OUT .... this is not A CAR ENGINE with a screened oil pickup tube going thru an oil pump and oil galleys.

This is a gear mesh setup that probably has about .005, thats five thousandths of an inch mesh clearance, and if you think a piece of plastic that is probably a sixteenth of an inch thick .062 thick or more, will go through, go for it, but don't say I never warned you.

You are talking an hour or so labor to pop lower unit off vs. a lower unit rebuild.

I seriously doubt you want to take this chance, but hey, it aint my motor. .......... :(

I'm not trying to come off as a know it all, but I know my way around these enough to know what I would and would not chance ...... and this is one I WOULD NOT CHANCE .....

Note in pic this is a direct 90 degree mesh gear (for reference only, yours may not be EACTLY the same)

 
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keithkz said:
Well I just called Wilson Marine in Brighton, MI....they have a HUGE service department there and they are an authorized Bennington and Volvo Penta dealer. He agreed with the suggestion above with filling it back up up gear lube, placing the ear muffs on the outdrive, running it in forward for a minute and then in reverse for a minute, then draining it with a strainer to see if it came out, and then putting fresh lube back in. So I guess that's what I will do. Hope I don't cause a bigger problem but I guess I am prepared to take that risk because as you can imagine the marinas are all backed up right now with everyone getting their boats repaired.
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Good luck, I hope it works out, and I hope you got his name, just in case.......

I really hope I'm wrong and it works for you, but I also hope it does not just float around till you get to the middle of the lake and takes a crap .......
 
Is it just a matter of unbolting all of those botls/nuts on the bottom side about half way up the outdrive and then dropping it out, then flipping it upside down to see if I can get it to fall out?
 
BigKahuna said:
Okay this is along the same thing that happened to Keith so hear me out................My retirement "job" is driving a school bus doing field trips/sports trips...............I was adding oil to the engine one day and snapped the cap off the quart of oil bottle. You know that little plastic piece that remains on the bottle that the cap was attached to????? Well when I went to pour it in the oil filler hole opening that little plastic piece came off the bottle and.............. that's right................went directly into the engine! There wasn't a chance to fish that little piece out of the engine. (I tried) So I called the mechanic over and he said to just start it up and don't worry about it. It'll get pulverized in there and dissipate. Now I know we're talking about a big diesel engine and a Volvo outdrive but it could be the same principle............
Click to expand...
Sounds like job security for the mechanic .... :D
 
keithkz said:
Is it just a matter of unbolting all of those botls/nuts on the bottom side about half way up the outdrive and then dropping it out, then flipping it upside down to see if I can get it to fall out?
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I am not positive on an "outdrive" setup, but it looks to be the same as an "outboard" lower. You do want to verify there are no o-rings and such that get lost or damaged, or you will have even bigger problems if you get water intrusion.
 
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