Just drained my outdrive (volvo penta 270) for winter and found water in the gear oil. Never had problem before, but this is the first year I had it docked. I trailered until this year. Have heard mixed reviews about pressure and vacuum testing on an old outdrive. Can anyone give me any suggestions? Thanks!

I ran one of those Volvo 270s for 9 years on the ocean, on a mooring.. very good unit!

I would drain the oil, then pressure test.. look for 10-15 lbs and holding it for 15-20 minutes, also vacuum check too, make up a gage with a fill fitting from a gear lube fill hose, and a tee fitting, with a vacuum or pressure gage, and a tire schraeder valve on the other leg of the tee. Use vacuum hose or I used fuel line which was the right size. Use a bike tire pump to pump it up. The Merc's I resealed last year would hold 15lbs overnight with no oil in them.

Don't let the unit sit over the winter drained, refill if you aren't going to take it apart or the remaining h20 will rust the innards.

You probably need to take the unit apart and reseal it if water is getting in, and the unit is old. You can get shafts weld repaired at a good local machine shop that specializes in mill and factory repairs, not a production shop..I spent $75 bucks on my lower merc Drive shaft repair, and it was two welds wheree the seals wear.

Speedy sleeves are available at the local bearing houses, and do a nice job of repairing worn shafts as well. I would also check the runout on the prop shaft to see if it somehow got bent.

Dave Leonard

I ditto the great drive comment. I ran one 500 hrs with almost no problems. Trims hoses failing, thats it. Only thing to add to zoomba's post is this. While you have the drive pressured, spray soapy water around all accessable joints, seals, drain plugs and vents looking for air bubbles. Hopefully you will find a missing o-ring on a drain plug. Good luck,

Dave

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I ordered new o-rings for drain plug, dip stick and vent. I plan on putting them on and pressure testing. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again for your help.

Do the pressure test BEFORE you change anything so you know if you found/fixed the problem!

Good luck,

Dave