Well, I replaced the cap on the outdrive reservoir and it's still blowing out lube. Looks like it's down about a quart again. Pulled the top cap and found fine particles on the magnetic plug and no appreciable wear on the upper gears. What are the odds that this is due to the upper input shaft pinion bearing in you guys' opinion. The oil looks perfect, so I don't believe that I have a seal problem. Also, have any of you gone through your outdrive? Are there any big potential mistakes that can ruin your day? I have done plenty of automotive gearboxes myself, but never an outdrive. If I screw it up too bad, then there is always a used one for sale somewhere.

Thanks in advance,

Rene

after building drives and motors for the last 25 years and have had many many customers bring me them in boxes saying I thought I could do it, unless you have done them before and have the proper tools ( I have about 60k worth of them) then you should just take to a reliable shop in your area......

belive me its worth the expence

Nothing magic.. just the right tools and experience... Lacking that a good box to put the parts in..

Yes, you have to make sure the small parts don't slip thru the cracks in the box.

Well, the drive is off and there is some gear lube in the bellows. Everything turns smoothley, but at the very least, it needs a new seal. Oh well, no boating today . I'll see if I find somebody around here who I trust to mess with it (other than myself).

Rene

Its going to need more then a seal, a bearing is heating up and causing the drive lube to expand and build up pressure. in most cases in most cases ive seen this happen its been the pinion bearing

Yeah, I suspect that the pinion bearings are bad. Especially since it's run low on oil twice due to the lube running out of the bottle. Hopefully there won't be any problems in the lower. Thanks for the input Joe, I really respect your opinions/advice on here.

Rene

old and tried I hate to be the bearer of bad news ...but the pinion bearing is in the lower

I thought you were talking the input pinion. I guess you are talking about the drive pinion on the vertical shaft. Well, that's going to suck. I'll let you know what it was. Thanks again,

Rene

Whats the 2 bearings called behind the upper pinion gear?