I had my lower unit oil changed in the fall and then I stored in non- heated garage. When I picked it up it was not leaking anything all winter. I got home and I was cleaning I noticed oil dripping out of the prop area. I had a mechanic look at it and he said the seals in the out drive are causing it and they need replaced. My question is was this a cause of not properly daring the lower unit oil?Is the person that winterized the motor at fault?
Very doubtful that seals got damaged by mechanic doing a LU oil change. Even if there was a lot of water in your LU and the mechanic did not change the oil you would see much more catastrophic damage besides a leaky seal.
Seals are a wear item over time. They can and will fail earlier from fishing line wrapped on prop shaft or a bent shaft from hitting items like rocks.
What age motor?
Not sure how changing lower unit oil would damage any type of prop seal.
2014 Mercury 350 IO
Seals go bad, prop shaft could be bent.
Check to make sure both the drain plug and the vent plug of the lower unit have gasket washers on the drain and vent screws.
it would be quite easy to lose one of these washers when changing the lower unit oil.
Grouse
Check to make sure both the drain plug and the vent plug of the lower unit have gasket washers on the drain and vent screws.
it would be quite easy to lose one of these washers when changing the lower unit oil.
Grouse
If the gaskets in the plug screws were compromised in the fall when the LU oil was changed, don’t you think it would have leaked at least a little bit during the winter months? I find it very odd that there was nothing leaking the entire winter and just started to leak when it was brought home
I had one of the trim cylinders on my Yamaha f300 do the same thing. Sat outside beside garage all winter nothing. Brought it out one day to put in garage to start cleaning/prepping boat for the year, it started leaking. Why then all of a sudden? I guess it has to start sometime? Pretty easy fix but bothersome nonetheless.
Oil is Also thicker in the winter, warmer it gets easier it will leak.
If the gaskets in the plug screws were compromised in the fall when the LU oil was changed, don’t you think it would have leaked at least a little bit during the winter months? I find it very odd that there was nothing leaking the entire winter and just started to leak when it was brought home
Maybe, and maybe not. I suggested it because it’s the only thing that would reasonably start to leak oil after a gearcase oil change. And also because it would be super easy to check and fix.
I always like to check and if necessary fix the most obvious and simple things first.
Grouse
Did the place that serviced it follow mercury’s procedure and pressure test it to verify the seals were ok? If not and it is a mercury dealer I would put some of this back on them for not following Mercury’s guidelines.
That would be a stretch to hold them liable for the seals if they did not pressure test the seals. That in itself has nothing to do with the failure. They just wouldn’t have found the bad seals. At the very best, they maybe cover the cost of the new fluid after they replace the seals now because had they found the bad seals they wouldn’t have to change the fluid twice. That is unless they charged for a pressure test and didn’t do it.
Did the place that serviced it follow mercury’s procedure and pressure test it to verify the seals were ok? If not and it is a mercury dealer I would put some of this back on them for not following Mercury’s guidelines.
One other possibility is if they over filled the lower unit with the warmer weather the gear lube expands forcing its way past the seals. If it were over filled you would know if you pulled to top screw out and a fair amount of gear lube runs out of that top hole. If that were the case I doubt the seals are bad.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Jake wrote:</div>
If the gaskets in the plug screws were compromised in the fall when the LU oil was changed, don’t you think it would have leaked at least a little bit during the winter months? I find it very odd that there was nothing leaking the entire winter and just started to leak when it was brought homeMaybe, and maybe not. I suggested it because it’s the only thing that would reasonably start to leak oil after a gearcase oil change. And also because it would be super easy to check and fix.
I always like to check and if necessary fix the most obvious and simple things first.
Grouse
That would be a stretch to hold them liable for the seals if they did not pressure test the seals. That in itself has nothing to do with the failure. They just wouldn’t have found the bad seals. At the very best, they maybe cover the cost of the new fluid after they replace the seals now because had they found the bad seals they wouldn’t have to change the fluid twice. That is unless they charged for a pressure test and didn’t do it.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>onestout wrote:</div>
Did the place that serviced it follow mercury’s procedure and pressure test it to verify the seals were ok? If not and it is a mercury dealer I would put some of this back on them for not following Mercury’s guidelines.
Did you notice I said some and not all?
Most of my seal failures have occurred over winter when they get cold enough to shrink up.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
