Weight of High Performance gear lube
#8
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 176
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From: Toronto, Canada
Gear Oil Vs. Gear Case Parts

In 1974 when I bought the Checkmate/Alpha, the dealer recommended the Quicksilver gearcase oil or any good quality marine gear oil. I'm not sure that was the best advice , but how long is an outdrive supposed to last? (Sure it's how you use it, but, really, what is reasonable??)
Our lake is rife with rocky shoals and the water drops 10' - 13' over the course of the summer...I ripped off 5 gear cases in 20 years and not much chance to check out how gear oil would affect longevity .
The last one was in 1993 and I replaced the lower with a brand new Merc unit. Since the QSilver was pricy and a pain to find at times, I used Outboard Marine Corp. gear oil, Canadian Tire bulk 90w, and the QSilver performance lube on and off. The drive performed well, but with ALOT of groundup metal material on the plug and it gave up in 2005 - 12 years.
Now I've replaced the upper and lower with fresh Merc, I'm running it with the QSilver perf+ with a few grindings showing up in it's first two seasons - but it is still in the "break in" period. I really want to see NO grindings once broken in and using the specified lubricant, which should mean a longer life than 12 years? Anyone older than me, who can remember?





