Lower unit oil

[Junger]

Hi all, I just changed my Lowe unit oil for the first time, my boat was used and last time was 2 years ago by the owner.

 

I had a small puddle under the lower unit and traced it to the lower release screw hole.

 

Does this look normal or is it something I need to investigate further?

 

[r83srock]

Might be a pinch of water there but that’s really not too unusual. Oil looks fine to me. Btw, change the screw seal every time you do lower unit oil. It’s common for the screw seals to leak if they have been used more than once.

[Junger]

8 minutes ago, r83srock said:

Might be a pinch of water there but that’s really not too unusual. Oil looks fine to me. Btw, change the screw seal every time you do lower unit oil. It’s common for the screw seals to leak if they have been used more than once.

Thanks, I did buy new washers, the fiber type. I compared it to the ones on the screws and they outer diameter on the new one is fine, but the inner is just a tad larger and kind of fits loose. I matched the part to the aftermarket maker. Should I go ahead and use them?

[r83srock]

1 hour ago, Junger said:

Thanks, I did buy new washers, the fiber type. I compared it to the ones on the screws and they outer diameter on the new one is fine, but the inner is just a tad larger and kind of fits loose. I matched the part to the aftermarket maker. Should I go ahead and use them?

 

1 hour ago, Junger said:

Thanks, I did buy new washers, the fiber type. I compared it to the ones on the screws and they outer diameter on the new one is fine, but the inner is just a tad larger and kind of fits loose. I matched the part to the aftermarket maker. Should I go ahead and use them?

If they are oem washers you should be fine. 

[OnthePotomac]

Suggest you put your drained oil in a clear glass/plastic jar to hold up to the light to check for water in the fluid.  If you have water it will show up milky and easy to detect.   I drain mine in to a plastic shoe box and pour it into a large glass jar.  From there it goes into a plastic jar with a screw top then off to the county land fill used oil disposal.

[Junger]

Thanks, going to pour it into an empty 2L soda bottle.

[OnthePotomac]

That works for sure.

[rejesterd]

Yeah, I would say you had some water in there.  You definitely want to trace that leak, but I doubt your gears are damaged.

 

To really confirm that the lower unit is sealed, you can connect a bike pump to the lower unit fill port.  If it holds a small amount of pressure (10-15 psi) for a whole minute, then any leaks would have to be coming from that fill port.  But it's possible one of the seals needs to be replaced.  I do that test whenever I see any cloudiness in the drained oil.