Last year I bought a 2009 Checkmate 270 Convincor with the 496 HO motor. It had only 100 hours on it and is in like new condition. It now has 157 hours and I noticed it uses about a tablespoon or so of gear oil every time I take it out. I don't run it hard and cannot find a leak anywhere including the prop seal. Any ideas? Thanks

The best way to zero in on the problem - if there is one - is to have the drive pressure tested.

Has the gear lube been changed recently?? It often takes several outings to work out every last bit of air.

If you can't detect or see any leaks, its could have a leak at the input shaft seal and the lube will leak into the bellows.

I changed it at 125 hrs. If it leaks into the bellows, won't it leak into the engine compartment with the motor up? I'll pull the drive this fall and check the bellows anyway. Thanks for the help!

not saying it’s normal but I’ve seen people reporting bravos using oil after 10-15 hours.

I don’t know about a teaspoon every outing but they’ve had to top it after some extended use.

with that being said there are only a handful of places it can come from

1. top cap
2. back cap
3. prop shaft
4. between up and lower
5. around carrier

If you see nothing in the bilge it’s likely 1-4.

That's very appropriate advice . Every time I've changed the oil in mine believing that the unit is completely purged , even if it doesn't go overboard for months , the lube bottle slowly drops and drops and there's no leaks anywhere to be found. It does eventually settle in and stop though .

I bought a new 2006 Sea Ray Sundancer with Bravo 3 Drive. After about a year I found a reservoir tank losing oil every time I took it out. NO indication of a prop seal leak and NO indication of water in the oil.

Took the boat into my mechanic and pressure tested the out drive, finding that the prop seal WAS leaking. Come to find out that the Mercruiser inner prop shaft had hardening problems. The shaft was heavily grooved where the seal road. Yet it never showed signs of leakage until it was pressure tested.

Sea Ray was balking on the warranty but finally came through.

You mean Mercruiser FINALLY came through....(just clarifying the warranty route for those in a similar instance that may read this thread in the future). The propulsion system and related components' warranty is strictly Mercruiser (although administered through the same dealer in your case)

You bought the Sea Ray which has it's components obligations to warranty (and will replace components ie lights, sink faucets, vents, +++)from it's vendors under warranty in order to expedite the replacement BUT they are also collecting a warranty from the vendors for their product failure)