VOLVO 280 gear lube (drive)

[Lenny]

What do I dump in there? You know, where the little slotted screw and "dipstick" on top of the drive are? Mine is LOWWWWW, I need to top it up asap for a 4 day boating vacation... (disclaimer,... "till I blow it up" :D )

[mattyboy]

hi vis gear lube I use the blue merc synth stuff usually about 2.5 quarts ( don't ask me to covert to litres) ;) i pump up from the drain plug ( screw) on the drive just above the skeg port side on my 250 with the dipstick loose and fill to the high side of the mark cause i usually make a mess trying to put the screw back in
drop me a line if u have questions

[Lenny]

thanx :)

[MOP]

Len when you say LOWWWWW just how low? Did it happen over a short period? If so you should check for a leak, if you don't see one just looking over the outside of the drive it would be a good idea to loosen the bellows clamp at the drive end and check for oil in the bellows. The seal behind the U joint may be going, that can cause the upper to go bye bye. If you do find oil in the bellows and need to get a few more hours out of it you can dump about 2oz of seal conditioner in, it will swell the seal to hold you over but keep an eye on it.

Phil

[mrfixxall]

(per volvo) volvo reccomends that you use 30w oil in your lower unit ,,merc gear lube will not flo because volvo has a oil circulation pump attached to the lower propeller shaft......

[Lenny]

I used the 30W, second time, new seals etc and bellows boot. No problems.

I actually tried to "blow it up", either the motor or the drive to give me an excuse to replace something with black or blue...

No go.

No problems, AND, I did run/fly/rev the $hit out of it.

Still ticking. with 30W.

[mattyboy]

(per volvo) volvo reccomends that you use 30w oil in your lower unit ,,merc gear lube will not flo because volvo has a oil circulation pump attached to the lower propeller shaft......


when did VOLVO recomend 30w recently ?? did volvo flip flop again on this??? it has been discussed here many times
that the original VOLVO recomendation for the early aquamatics 200 series was motor oil but then VOLVO thru internal memos and tech bullentins stated that 90w oil should be used

[Tony]

I use Redline HD synthetic. Lenny, try as you may, you will have a very hard time blowing up that outdrive. As noted by many, those things are built like tanks. Mine is 38 years old and still going strong!

[Kirk]

I have a Volvo 270 and use Amsoil Gear lube 75w...shifts like a dream and I have had no problems.

The stuff is like $10.00 per quart

I tried the 30w oil and the drive did not shift as well as it does with the amsoil.

KJ

[EricG]

I ran 30wt last year, but the shifting just wasn't as smooth as I expected. I switched to Kendall (I can't remember the weight, but I got it from a post by Forrest a few years ago), and it has shifted great all season. At least, for those 5-6 hours I ran it this year :redface:

-EG