I changed the oil this weekend in the outdrives and didn't like what I found in the reservoir tanks.

When I went to empty them out there was a ton of sludge in the bottom of the tanks. I took the tanks out of the boat and flushed them with pre-mix gas that I had. Tanks are still off the boat drying out. The oil seemed to have something mixed with it but really didn't seem like water. It wasn't real milky, but did have some lighter colored streaks to it. Is it just condensation build up. Anyone know what could have caused this, is this common?

When I drained the drives, one looked good, the other seemed to have a little sludge come out when I first pulled the plug then looked good after that.

Any feed back would be much appreciated.

I found the same thing over the winter.......just cleaned them out real good and re-installed.

I found the same thing in mine after the boat was a few years old even though I changed my drive oil every 25 hours. I just cleaned them out good and never had any issues.

thanks. I was worried I had bigger issues coming.

Mine have always been like that when I change the lube in the fall, even with as little as 30 hrs. Been told it is common with teh Merc Hi Perf lube. Clean it out and good to go till next change. Seems to be just confined to the drive bottles though for me.