I switched over to amsoil marine gear lube in my trs drive before storage (old oil looked ok). After the first run of the season, I was checking the fluids and noticed gear lube bubbling out of the vent. When I pulled the dipstick for the drive reservoir the lube had a whitish/yellow look to it. Is this normal or do I have water in my drive?
I drained some lube from the drive and did not see any water come out.
Thanks for the help.

You have a bad seal some where. Has to be water

Is the level rising on the dipstick after running?If so you have a leak somewhere for sure.

Thanks for the replies,
Yes, the level was high and it was foaming out of the vent tube. However, I was expecting to see some water come out when I drained some lube.

The water ends up mixing with the oil causing a milkshake. Many times you wont find any water that is separated. If the drive isn't going to be torn apart right away( in a day or two) ya might want to drain the old oil and fill the drive with diesel to prevent corrosion.


Darrell.

Sounds like I have some wrenching to do tonight after work.

That's the problem with that oil. A slight case of water the oil foams instantly. Mercury Hi Performance gear oil never does that. Go back to the Hi Performance oil. You'll have less problems.

Your the second person to tell me that. The parts guy ragged on me for 10 min on why would I switch. But, I can't blame the oil for the bad seal. I was just pushing my luck. I was hoping to get one more season out of it before I tore it down.

That's funny,
I've had water in my drive oil (Amsoil) because of a bad o-ring and it has never foamed up. I strongly disagree that the Merc crap is better. Could your drive be over filled?

The Amsoil gear lube was up to the "full" mark on the reservoir dipstick before I hit the water.
I think your right about the Amsoil. Oil is oil it's all the same in the end. As long as you have the proper oil for the job.
Either way, I did not want to take the chance of ruining my drive over $40 in oil. I drained and flushed it and got two new drain/fill plug seals and filled the drive back up with merc high per gear lube (I found it for the same price as the Amsoil).
I have not had a chance to get it wet again, but am anxious to see what happens.