I think I may have a leak.  As I was sitting on my dock in the rain this past weekend, I noticed that the water dripping off the skeg of my outdrive was hitting the lake and becoming "rainbowish".  Nothing is dripping when the outdrive is dry, so I think the rainwater was passing over some outdrive oil somewhere, so when it would drip off the skeg, you could see the oil in the water. 

Upon winterization, my monitor bottle was full.  When I de-winterized, the monitor bottle was at the add line.  So it appears I lost some outdrive oil over the course of the winter w/o even using the boat.  Upon winterization, I had the outdrive oil changed, and it was not milky at all, and after running the boat, its still not milky.  Any suggestions? 

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1999 Crownline 225BR
Merc 5.7L Alpha
"Ramble On"

I cant believe it would break over the winter if you changed the fluid. Unless there was water in there somewhere that froze and cracked something, you likely just have a loose screw. The drain for that outdrive is just a screw with a little o-ring, and there's another one at the top that acts as a vent. If it wasn't milky when you changed it, you might just have a seal that's not quite seated and it's seeping out. I'd back them out a bit and reseat them and see if it holds.

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Crownline Airlines 2001 202BR with WakeAir tower

I heard of a guy that lost all of his outdrive oil from that little "o" ring on the bottom of the drive not being installed.

 

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202br 5.7LX captains call
"A Trip"
Let'r happen captain

Thanks for the input.  I'll give it a shot.  The screw being loose would make some sense.  Otherwise I'm not sure how the lube would end up on the outside of the outdrive.

Like I stated, right now the lube doesn't appear milky.  If I started noticing that it was, where do I check to troubleshoot that problem?

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1999 Crownline 225BR
Merc 5.7L Alpha
"Ramble On"

If you had the outdrive fluid changed, there might have been air in the system, initially showing that the outdrive was full...however, the air might have bled out, and allowed your outdrive to fill up, and your reservoir to show a lower reading.

 Not sure though about the "rainbow" your seeing in the drips, but it could just be oil residue that is washing off the drive.

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1999 Crownline 180BR

Chris Chancellor:

Like I stated, right now the lube doesn't appear milky.  If I started noticing that it was, where do I check to troubleshoot that problem?

Did you drain some oil from the bottom, or just look at the bottle on top of the engine?  I don't think you'll see anything in the bottle, even if there's water in the lower unit.  First, the water is heavier than the oil.  Second, I don't think you get much circulation between the oil in the bottle and the lower unit.  If you wait to see milky oil in the bottle, you'll probably be in bad shape.

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Jim Canary
2006 180BR 4.3 Amethyst

Jim Canary:

Chris Chancellor:

Like I stated, right now the lube doesn't appear milky.  If I started noticing that it was, where do I check to troubleshoot that problem?

Did you drain some oil from the bottom, or just look at the bottle on top of the engine?  I don't think you'll see anything in the bottle, even if there's water in the lower unit.  First, the water is heavier than the oil.  Second, I don't think you get much circulation between the oil in the bottle and the lower unit.  If you wait to see milky oil in the bottle, you'll probably be in bad shape.

I haven't drained any from the bottom yet.  The lube was in good shape when it was changed when winterized, so thats what I was speaking to.  Basically everything seemed fine when I put the boat away.  A couple times over the summer I put 2-3 oz. in to top off the monitor bottle but that is mostly normal from what I gather.  The fact that I lost as much as I did over the winter having not even used the boat was what seemed strange.  The loose screw is making the most sense to me since I'm seeing rainwater drip off the outdrive that is mixed with the lube.

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1999 Crownline 225BR
Merc 5.7L Alpha
"Ramble On"

If there raw water impeller was replaced, there is a small O ring between the upper and lower sections of the outdrive. It is easily pushed out of place and will result in a "mystry" leak. Also, as mentioned before there are seals both on the vent (upper) and fill/drain (lower) plugs on the outdrive. Merc USED to use O rings on these. They have since switched to a gasket. The plugs for the O ring and gasket are different. I would suggest not reusing the O rings. If necessary go ahead and buy the new style plugs and always put new gaskets on when you change the outdrive oil.

Gilly

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1994 225CCR
TOBACCO Money

Did you change the outdrive oil or did you have it done? How much fluid was added?

 

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Bill Cook
Saratoga Springs, NY
Charleston Lake, On
'08 200LS 5.0L

I had it done, but I had asked the mechanic to let me know if it was milky just to be cautious since I had added extra oil a few times.  When I added it, it was only a couple of ounces, a few times over the course of the summer.  Not sure how much was added when it was changed.

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1999 Crownline 225BR
Merc 5.7L Alpha
"Ramble On"

My mechanic will do a pressure test on the outdrive to check for leaks. It's a little handpump with a pressure guage that threads into the vent screw. He pumps it up to a certain pressure and make sure it holds that pressure for a few minutes.

Update, I located the oily residue on the outdrive.  When I rubbed my finger over it, it was blueish like the gear lube.  It was located just under what I can only guess from reading my manual is one of the gear housing water drain holes.  The holes are on both sides of the outdrive (closer to the leading edge) and about the size of the pointed tip of a pin.  The oil was kind of caked on a horizontal portion of the outdrive just under one of these holes. 

I'm only guessing this is what these holes are by finding a diagram and also knowing that water drains out of these holes for like 15 seconds or so after the outdrive comes out of the water.  I do know though that the water I saw draining out of these holes was clear, and since I cleaned off the oil no more has showed up.  (But I only ran the boat for less than an hour over the weekend) 

So my only guess is that the last time the lube was changed, some lube got on this area of the outdrive and was never cleaned off, or (worse) at some point gear lube was escaping out of the gear housing drain holes.  Is the latter even possible?  Any other opinions on all this?  Thanks in advance.

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1999 Crownline 225BR
Merc 5.7L Alpha
"Ramble On"

Do you still have the leak?  I may have similar issue?

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Rob Pearce
230 EX Merc 5.0
New Milford, Ct