99Hammer

I have a 7.4L with a Brovo 1 performance drive. Lately the drive lube leve;s in my resevior bottle have gone down. I added a new clamp to the hose on the bottom of them bottle, then refilled it to the fill line. It went down about 1/4". So I added more to bring it back to level. About 12 hours later I checked it again and it was about 1/2" above the fill line. Do I have a gremlin in my engine compartment or is this normal???

SteveDavid

Hi,

Could be a couple of things:

#1: The reservoir may become pressurized with hard running,. in which case the level will rise, and settle back down after running. You may still see the green residue and think you're low.

#2. You may have a bad pinion seal. Common problem with Bravo drives. Steel seal, wet environment, .... When this happens fluid from the drive or reservoir or both will leak into the bellows and ultimately into your bilge. Have you noticed any drive fluid in your bilge? If this is the problem, the drive must be removed to access replacement of the seal. The piece is less than $10, the labor however will probably be a minimum 1 hour charge off and another 1 hour going back on.

#3. You have a bad outdrive seal(s), especially in the lower unit which is allowing fluid to leak out when under pressure.

#4. Check the quick connect (plastic) that is on your transom shield and receives the hose from the reservoir. (The quick connect is directly below the raw water intake hose that goes from the transom shield to your raw water pump.) Is it snapped in place ok? Is the hose itself in good condition?

Hope this helps,

Steve

99Hammer

Steve, I am beggining to believe I have problem #2. The fluid level changes happened yesterday with the boat in the driveway. the resevoir was about 1/4" low so I filled it to the full line (boat has not run for 3-4 days). When i checked it later it went back up again to about 1/4" over. Yes, I beleive there is oil leaking into the bilge. There is none in my driveway. Is it ok to run the boat as long as the drive resevoir is filled or should I have it serviced before running it again?

blue thunder

Did you move the outdrive trim up or down while it was in the driveway and inbetween you level checks?

BT

99Hammer

Fella's
thanx for all the info. Yes I did move the drive up and down. After a second day of checking the fluid is back up to where I filled it to the other day. There was a cheap plastic clamp holding the hose to the bottle. I replace it with a metal one. I had noticed some leaking there. Since I replaced the clamp, no more. The weather has been crazy here, 45 at night and 80s in the day, could that be the reason for the change in levels? It was allways low in the morning at higher at 5 or 6 when I get home. I will give it a test spin this weekend to see how things are.

blue thunder

The important thing is the color of the lube in the reservoir. If it continues to look like the day you put it in you are probably ok. If it is starting to look lighter in color... you may have water in it which would damage your bearings in the drive if let go. You are on the ball with this, so I think you are ok.

BT

SteveDavid

Hi 99 Hammer,

I agree with Blue Thunders observation. If in fact it is a pinion seal and the leak is constant but minor, you're fine to run the boat so long as you keep an eye on your reservoir level. If you boat in salt water you'll want to replace that seal sooner or later or else you'll commence corrosion on the seal landing.

Don't overfill the reservoir bottle, on the race boat we keep the level just 1 inch above the bottom of the plastic reservoir as it expands big time under pressure. In a pleasure boat application if you keep it at the level line or some constant below that, say 1 inch or so and maintain at that level you'll be fine.

Hope your weather clears up and you have a great weekend of boating!

Steve

99Hammer

You guys have been a great help. I think the leakage has been solved by a new clamp. How do I tell if I have water in my oil. I 'm just a rookie, I thought about putting some (dirve oil) in a cup and adding water to see the color change but the water should float on top, be lighter in color, I guess? Is this aq big problem if it ever happens?

GETTINBYE

99Hammer,

I would take a look at Steve david's # 4. This will also cause drive oil in the bilge. I have had to replace that quick connect on both of my engines. Once you see it, it is hard to understand how it seals to start with. Very inexpensive part and not hard to change out. For me I found that it was easier to remove the water inlet housing rather than trying to work blind under it.

Good Luck & Be Safe,
Mark

mcollinstn

Mercruiser High Performance Gear Lube will absorb a good deal of water (by design). Other High Perf lubes may not, which can be a good thing sort of. If you are using non Merc lube, then let the boat sit for a while with the drive(s) down. Loosen the bottom drain plug and the water will have sepoarated and will run out first.

I had a hot 8000 rpm outboard that just always seemed to get a bit of water in the gearcase over the weekend. Friday I could drain an ounce or so out. I used Amsoil and the water separated from it nicely after sitting.