Gear lube leakage from water intake - alpha 1

[benbaron]

I have a theory.............

I drained it (oil looks good and fresh no water in at all). Took it too bits....Seal looked good, swapped it anyway (what a total pita to get off!!! dont know how familiar you are with the seals but they have 2 indents to lever it with screw drivers - the plastic ripped to bits with that! after an hour I managed to get it out (with lots of swearing)...swapped it, fitted everything back together (good thing I did that anyway as 2 blades of my impeller were folded in the wrong direction (hence the spitting of the water from a previous posting... ...but my theory.....

Is it possible for the oil to be leaking down from the hose that connects into the remote reservoir at the connection to the lower leg? Oil leaking into the cavitys and making its way out of the intakes? I cant be sure as I dont have a cross-section of the leg to see the cavitys...but the connection has been squashed and isnt good - would also account for why it leaks much more when I raise the leg up and then down - wiggling it free and breaking the seal it has when down.... make sense or am I talking jibberish?

[benbaron]

ie part number 6 on this piccy http://www.mercruiserparts.com/Show_pic ... r+Assembly

If thats leaking into the leg then could it find its way out through the intakes?

Help - cant find a cross sections pick to show if thats possible or not...

[Capn Jack]

Ben

I've not owned a Gen 11 yet to be an authority on it sorry. I'm trying to understand what it is you are describing but I can't see that it would be the answer. The oil intake tube for the reservoir would be seperate in theory from the pump.

A friend of mine in Aus used to be a Mercruiser technician, I have mailed him but it could be a week before I get an answer.

[Gazjen]

How old is yours Cap I thought yours was a gen2?

Where the leg fits back on to the gimble housing part there is an o ring have you changed that? is there any corrosion underneath the o ring or on the mating face?

[benbaron]

How old is yours Cap I thought yours was a gen2?

Where the leg fits back on to the gimble housing part there is an o ring have you changed that? is there any corrosion underneath the o ring or on the mating face?

Err - no. Wheres that?

Im looking for a pic of the lower leg from above but not succeeding - anybody have one then I can explain my theory better

[Gazjen]

The Hole I'm talking about may be a little high to explain your leak but,

It's where the gear oil feeds from the reservoir though the casting of the gimble/transom bell housing into the leg

If you scroll down to the alpha 1 gen 2 bell housing you will see on the right between the top two studs there is a hole that's where the gear oil is fed through

http://www.mercstuff.com/bellhousing.htm

Or through the hole in the gasket marked by my rather nifty red arrow

[benbaron]

Hi Gaz,

I dont think it will be that - 1. Your right its too high, 2. Ive only taken the lower bit of the leg off so havent been anywhere near that area.

Im still investigating the issue but hope fully swapping out the oil seal will have fixed it - if not Im going to stick my head under whilst trimming see if any oil is leaking from there.

Cheers for the info though

[betty boop]

u put back the tiny O ring between the lower leg upper leg? commonly missed if you read the US forums. only on the Gen 2 though.

[benbaron]

u put back the tiny O ring between the lower leg upper leg? commonly missed if you read the US forums. only on the Gen 2 though.

Again - doubt it - wheres that???

[benbaron]

I might be talking out of my bum here - am I looking at the speedo connector and not the remote oil tube? http://www.kreativejuice.co.uk/boat/speedo.png I think I am...so theory is bobbins...now then wheres this o-ring

[benbaron]

mmm right are you talking about item 6 on here http://www.kreativejuice.co.uk/boat/seal.png ??? if so whats that do?

[Capn Jack]

How old is yours Cap I thought yours was a gen2?

Nope it's def an Alpha 1.....not an Alpha 1 Gen 11.....

Ben

My Aussie mate says that it could be a Lower Gearcase Seal and the only way to really tell is to pressure test it.....£££...

I've been thinking about this and when I took mine apart I had had a leak through the lower pump gasket and could clearly see the residue. Apart from the gasket leaking where else could the oil come from.........apart from Betty's idea, which I think could be a winner, that the oil seal tiny O ring between the upper and lower units was maybe faulty or missing.

Does the Gen 11 have a water drain hole at the front?

[benbaron]

My Aussie mate says that it could be a Lower Gearcase Seal and the only way to really tell is to pressure test it.....£££...

Shhhhhhhhh.....dont be putting doubts like that in my mind....

[Capn Jack]

dont be putting doubts like that in my mind....

Ooops!

[blued]

I've just been reading through this thread with interest, I changed my impeller and gear oil last month. When I first removed the drain plug clear water ran out of the bottom, probably as much as 250ml! The gear oil was a mess, brown and the last of it to come out was gloopy. I left it draining for ages. Now I assumed the water had got in through one of the seals that I replaced - the ones that came with the impeller kit plus I bought new seals for the drain, side and dipstick plugs. Now I'm worried the water could have got in elsewhere! I have no visible oil leaks so will check the gear oil after a few outings.