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gold-n-rod
06-27-2005, 09:17 AM
Yesterday, I changed out the oil in my Bravo One outdrive. I decided to empty out the plastic fluid reservoir in the bilge because the bottom 1.5" or so had a cloudly look to it. This is the reservoir that is supposed to transfer drive oil into the drive when the level drops. There are 2 wires and a 3/8 hose leading from the bottom of the reservoir through the transom at the drive bracket (don't know the correct name of this bracket).

Turns out the bottom of the reservoir was full of black sludge that looks just like chassis grease.

Now, as near as I know, there are just 2 places to insert grease into a Bravo. The first is the gimble bearing fitting on the outdrive itself. The second place is the 2 fittings on the coupler shaft. Can grease enter the reservoir from either of these places if too much was pumped in? I had the gimble replaced a couple of years ago. Could it have been overgreased then?

I have never heard of gear oil turning to sludge from just sitting in a container, so I'm ruling that out.

I rinsed out the reservoir with some gasoline and a lot of paper towels and will refill it.

Anyone else ever run across this puzzler?

Trueser
06-27-2005, 10:31 AM
What was the condition of the drive oil when you drained it?

Mike

gold-n-rod
06-27-2005, 11:04 AM
What was the condition of the drive oil when you drained it?

Mike

It looked just like new, no water, no "goop", just blue/green oil. BTW, the rest of the fluid in the reservoir looked fine, too, just the "goop" in the bottom looked wrong.

Morgan's Cloud
06-27-2005, 12:00 PM
I think it's a by-product of the Merc Semi Synthetic hi po gear lube.
I've noticed it before (but not as bad) in the reservoir bottle and the bottom of new oil containers.
May come from sitting around for a long time while at the same time experiencing temperature fluctuations.

Maybe one of the oil gurus can shed some light on this .

Tim H.
06-27-2005, 12:10 PM
I had the same problem 2 years ago. I removed and cleaned the reservoir bottle and it's been fine ever since.

MOP
06-27-2005, 01:58 PM
This is something we (our shop) have been guessing about for awhile, we have found it in a few of boats and couple have it there again at the next change. We have been wondering if drive heat has something to do with it, what gets us thinking that is none of the boats with drive showers have had the dark goo in the tank. It does not seem to effect the drive in any way, there is no extra metal on the magnet. Curious do you have a shower on yours, that would blow our theory.

Phil

Tim H.
06-27-2005, 02:22 PM
I don't have a shower on mine.

The goop was there when I bought the boat and I just thought the previous owner never changed the gear lube in the bottle. Since I cleaned it out it hasn't come back, but I also only average 12-15 hours per year.

MOP
06-27-2005, 03:20 PM
Most of the boats we service run a lot of hours and some pretty long distances, maybe there is some poop on the Merc site.

gcarter
06-27-2005, 04:14 PM
I bet it has something to do with the moisture it picks up from being vented to the atmosphere. :confused:

MOP
06-27-2005, 05:21 PM
I bet it has something to do with the moisture it picks up from being to the atmosphere. :confused:

George are we talking Rockets or boats :biggrin: :biggrin:

Seriously moisture will cause the oil to get a lighter tinge, this stuff looks like black grease.

gcarter
06-27-2005, 05:55 PM
I just edited my post to include the word "vented" to atmosphere.
Not just moisture, but dirt in the air over an extended period of time.

NeedSpeed
06-27-2005, 09:58 PM
I alway clean out my bottles when drive oil is changed. The oil comes out the drive clean, but the bottom of the resorvoir seems a tad darker and cruddier. The dirt must get pushed up into the bottles when the drives heat up.

gold-n-rod
06-28-2005, 06:10 AM
Seriously moisture will cause the oil to get a lighter tinge, this stuff looks like black grease.

Thanks for all the great replies, guys. Phil is right, the stuff looks like black chassis grease.

I do not run a drive shower and the reservoir does not get changed on a regular basis. For all I know, the oil has been in there since the boat was new (15 years).

If y'all haven't changed yours in a while, better get on it.