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Lower unit question

lakeliving

lakeliving

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Michigander living In Palm City FL
I looked at the boat yesterday and noticed gear lube leaking out at the drain and level screws. The screws were not tight. I tightened but what is the deal here? Someone messing with my stuff? For it to come out the check level screw it must mean there is enough in there correct? It was in the 90's and sunny on the unit the past couple days. Consistency looked good and it smelled just as nasty as out of the jug.

Thoughts? I saw some chatter on older hpdi motors doing this in cold temps.
 
Could it be overfilled?
 
Not sure. Did it last fall when I pulled it. Not sure why the screws were loose.
 
Hmm, this may be a coincidence, but just last week I was private messaging with Link and he said you "had a screw loose" I assumed he was meaning mentally, but maybe he pays for the upgraded military spec Google Earth and could see it!

On a serious note, did you replace the o rings when you serviced it last year?
 
BulldogsCadillac said:
Hmm, this may be a coincidence, but just last week I was private messaging with Link and he said you "had a screw loose" I assumed he was meaning mentally, but maybe he pays for the upgraded military spec Google Earth and could see it!

On a serious note, did you replace the o rings when you serviced it last year?
Click to expand...
Bulldog said you looked funny
 
I did replace the rings. Just not sure why they would be loose half way through the season.

I did leave some low hanging fruit there to make a joke out of...looks like I just did it again!
 
Jack wasn't parked near you was he?!?
 
If your rings are a crush type, you may not have gotten them tight enough initially and heat expansion may have caused them to be loose. Re-tighten them and keep an eye on them.

sorry, i can't think of a good joke right now or i would pick some of that fruit!
 
On my first boat, they got loose and started leaking. I noticed it when I was trading it in. On my current boat, I just changed the gear case oil and after 5 days of cruising around Powell I pulled it out and noticed the same thing. Cranked it down a little tighter and it seems all good now. I swear I cranked it down as tight as it would go when I changed it though. Maybe it just works loose?
 
We had a strange issue at the beginning of the season. Not sure this is what you're talking about (not my expertise) but thought I'd chime in just in case:

At the beginning of an outing, after taking off the playpen cover and then lowering the motor from storage position, we saw evidence of a little oil in the water? Doing a test we also saw a little squirting fluid coming from the lower unit area if someone stepped into the boat from the dock through the bow gate, causing the boat to rock a little end to end. Thinking we didn't tighten drain plug tight enough after last gear oil change, we tightened the drain plug super duper tight. Still happened. Then replaced 0-rings, tightened hard, still happened. Did a little research and asked at a dealer...apparently those little red 0-rings are notorious for being squeezed much too tight! Causes them to compress too much thus creating leakage. I guess screwing in just a little more than hand tight is the trick, seems to finally have worked for us anyways. Just an idea.
 
If you have negative thoughts and it's not too much trouble to get your boat on a trailer, just change the lower unit grease again.  I get Pennzoil lower unit grease for $5.50 a quart and the two gaskets are only a couple of bucks.  I always drain my lower unit oil in a completely clean and dry drain pan so I can look for any signs of water intrusion or excessive metal shards.

When I went to our local Yamaha dealer and asked for the gaskets for a F150, their partsman was looking for microfiche for a motorcycle.  Needless to say if a boat/cycle dealer partsman doesn't know what a F150 is, I'm never going back to see them again.
 
I looked yesterday after re tightening and did not see any more leakage. I guess I'll keep an eye on it. thanks guys.
 
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