Grease For Outboard

[tander]

I have been wanting to grease the swivel points on my outboard so I stoped by my local Outboard Repair shop. They sold me grease for bearings. I have always head that you should never use bearing grease for the outboard, I question it but they said that is what I need, It is red grease and they said that it would work for the ouboard. The grease is Star Brite Marine Trailer Wheel Bearing Grease, So, will it be OK, Do I need to get a different grease, I can always use the bearing grease.

[lmoore]

The biggest difference in the Marine grease you bought to any regular old auto grease is that it has a thinkening agent added to it. I believe it's some form of calcium, but can't remember off the top of my head. Anyways, the thickener makes it more water resistant and more expensive, but you should t have any problems using that on your outboard. might be a little thick and messy for trying to use on linkages, but should work OK.

[WIGuide]

Pretty sure you can use any grease tailored more for marine environments. Marine wheel bearing grease is made to be submerged, so to me that's good enough for my outboard. 

[fishnkamp]

I would not recommend using it.  If you own a Mercury outboard then get Mercury's 2-4-C Lubricant with teflon. That grease comes in different containers, from a simple tube, to small cartridges and up to the full size cartridges depending on the size of your grease gun.  This grease was developed to be used on all of the steering cables, throttle cables and more.  It specifically says not to use it on needle bearing which sorta suggests not good for wheel bearings.  I doubt your wheel bearing grease would be ideal for your application.  Check the owners manual for your outboard, but I have used the 2-4-c on all of my outboards (all 9 of them) and have had no trouble.