That dreaded disappearing gear lube....

CupidsQuarters

ok guys and gals my first post here... so I had gear lube disappearing out of my 2004 bravo 3 last fall to the point that my alarm would go off weekly.  Nothing in the bilge but I saw the bubble and oil sheen in the water a number of times and had the boat pulled for the winter shortly after seeing that.  The tech said he would look at it when he winterized my engine and fix the problem. He looked around the outdrive and noticed lube on the area where the upper and lower connected (it wasn't ultimately where it was coming from) so he did a pressure test and it passed with flying colors.  By this time the temperatures had dropped to below freezing and the leak stopped (my guess is due to the thickening lube). Come this spring all was well until the day before I was due to be launched.  That's when I noticed more lube leaking all over the pavement with temps finally reaching 70 degrees for the first time all year. They were stumped and at this point didn't seem to care as they said "oh that lube was there from before"...I called bull****   Long story short (too late)...with dumb luck I self diagnosed my problem. There was a small slit in the 10" hose connecting the transom to the drive. If I pulled on the hose it split open and dripped out rather quickly. Remember the lube looked like it was coming from the middle of the drive because it was falling out of the hose, landing right on that spot and running down the side. I put some rubberized tape around that slit as best I could to stop the bleeding.  I was due to be launched the next morning about 15 hours later. The tech said no way we can get to that and launch you as scheduled. It was going to have to wait till later that week. Miraculously I was launched the very next day at 8am. I was told the guy that launches the boats did the work on my drive (after a long winter with this terrible marine dealer I'm completely skeptical at this point). NOW... I have the lube to the full line and ran the boat last weekend for 3 hours total.  I lost lube to just above the add line but not to the point that the alarm went off (still a lot of lube) I topped it off to the full line again.  Ran it today for about a half hour and down about 2-3 millimeters below the full line again. No oil slick in the water at all when I got back to the dock so where is it going now? Would there be that much air clearing the line after 3.5 hours on the boat and two separate times out on the lake? Ironically I just got the bill for the "hose fix" today. Do I pay it right away? Where should I go from here and how much damage am I risking to the drive if any at all? Sorry for the long explanation but it's been on my mind since last September so I felt it was necessary. 

Handymans342

That sounds like a normal drop like mine did after normal service. Running around kind of works out the air in the drives. Keep an eye on it

youstolemybeer

big air bubble in the line and in the outdrive.   fill the jug and keep an eye on it

rasbury

where does replacing that line come into play? I am also losing a little gear oil and not sure exactly where this line is but hoping mine might be the same problem? I looked at the line from the reservoir down as far as I could feel but did not feel anything wet....there is yet another connection to the foot from this line? I'm losing a very small amount, but, want to get this under control before it becomes a bigger problem.... 

frenchship

The line from the reservoir leads to a plastic connector on the gimbal housing, then another line goes from there to the bell housing valve assy. Where the sterndrive is attached .

Dream_Inn

At this point, as others mentioned, I'd just keep an eye on it.  It would drop quite a bit after changing a hose out.  Oh, and welcome to the forum!

frenchship

That oil line should be replace, for now it is only a a temporary that I think will not last long..

CupidsQuarters

Thanks dream... Love my 2nd rinker and love this forum, French... I was told the hose was replaced but have absolutely zero confidence in the marina I stored the boat at this winter. That coupled with the fact that the boat was launched in such a hurry the day after I diagnosed the problem left me wondering if the work was even done.  The "band aid" I put on there was only to prevent lube from leaking all over the pavement.  I think it would most likely hold at the dock too but not sure it would hold lube while underway. My question was if they did in fact change out the hose as they billed me for would I still be losing that much fluid just from having the drive off the boat and the line changed.  I'm just going to have to monitor the level. Stay tuned as I'll know more in a couple weeks I'm sure. 

CupidsQuarters

rasbury said:

where does replacing that line come into play? I am also losing a little gear oil and not sure exactly where this line is but hoping mine might be the same problem? I looked at the line from the reservoir down as far as I could feel but did not feel anything wet....there is yet another connection to the foot from this line? I'm losing a very small amount, but, want to get this under control before it becomes a bigger problem.... 

Rasbury, you can see in this video screenshot that this is the lube hose from the transom to the outdrive.  It's just above the shift bellow on a bravo 3.  The leak is (or hopefully was) just above and a little right of the the play symbol.

JC290

What marina are you in? We are in port clinton all the time 

CupidsQuarters

I dock at Clinton Reef Club and absolutely love it but stored at Happy Days Boating since the club doesn't store. 

frenchship

When a new a hose line is installed it is quite shinny , and looking at the picture it seems to be more of a puncture.and that hose don't seems to be new or is it the picture that make it look like that. For your information to replace that hose the sterndrive has to come off, the bell housing as to come out which means that the drive shaft and exhaust  bellows have to be disconnect from the bell housing then glue back in and the sleeve and clamps reinstalled.Sometimes the insert for the water line also has to be remove from the bell housing. And at the time a new insert should have been installed.
The oil line is only about 7 to 8 inches long and mercruiser sell it in 6 feet  bulk.