Just noticed water in one the the trim oil tank. It's seems to be associated with my starboard outdrive and not the tab. What is the most likely cause? Looks like there are two tilt rams one on either side of the drive... maybe a seal? How do you drain a replace this oil?

I had the same problem last year on my 28 Pantera. It was one of the trim cylinders. I rebuilt it with a kit from mercruiserparts.com and problem went away. You need to get the special tool to take off the aluminum piece at the end. In fact that was the part that was corroded away in my case.

Thanks Jim, I'll give that a look. Anybody know if leaving the water in there for a month or so will do any damage- not later fixed with a rebuild kit? I'm in the Bahamas and won't be in the USA for an easy fix until December.

I had the same issue with my port drive. took care of it the other day since the cold weather is upon us. I was able to take off 1 of the lines on each piston separetly and run the pump to flush all the old milky fluid out. keep topping it off until nice and clean. tighten lines and good to go. the issue with leaving the water in there over the winter is that is the water has a chance to freeze, it could cause damage to the system. I will probably rebuild both pistons in the spring when have more time. btw, its already down to 25 degrees at night where I am, you may be safe till Dec if youre in a warmer area.

i am NOT kididing change the resevoir cap first before you do anything you may be pleasently surprised

had same problem Took drive off 14 weekends in a row and tried everything rebuilt it more than i want to think

got different case still had milky look in bottle

Changed the cap as last ditch effort and walla FIXED

Boatme,

Just finished rebuilding all four tilt rams... I think your right about the caps. All internals in the rams looked fine, I'm happy to have rebuilt them, but don't think that was it. I am going to flush the trim tanks and then replace the caps. The caps I have, have a vent on the top, there right under the edge of the engine hatch- right where water would drip.

Check the hydraulic hose fittings. May have a loose fitting sucking water.