Lower unit oil

[amytom]

Due to my "well ventilated exhaust" on the port engine I decided to get another engine ready to go in that slot. I have a pile of them in my garage and was pressure testing lower units to decide which one to try. I noticed that the lower units that failed the pressure test had two different indications of water in the oil. The light brown "chocolate milk" look and the dark oil with clear water sitting on top.

The lighter color has no viscosity left and isn't lubricating anything. The other seems to still have some lubricating properties but should still be re-sealed.

Is it a different grade of gear oil? I've been using the cheap "marine" gear oil from Wally World; should I scale up the quality?


Any thoughts welcome...

[thinwater]

Water on top of the oil? Are you certain it's gear oil, because that is not possible.

[amytom]

Maybe oil on top of the water then. Either way, it wasn't the mixed milky, sometimes foamy, that I would expect. The water and oil were separated.


Another lower unit I tried to drain the oil out of had only sand in it. I know the original owner of that engine had stirred up quite a bit of sand through the engines during a grounding incident. I guess the sand chewed up the seals letting the oil out and the sand collected in the gearcase. Yes this lower unit was frozen and went to the trash pile.

[thinwater]

Ouch.

I've helped a few people off and I've grounded a few times. There are a few clear lessons:

* First and foremost; you can always make things worse. Think first. Gunning the engine crazily is a classic error.
* The tide is stronger than any man. If you can wait, without the boat pounding, it's better.You'll be late and you'll get over it.
* Towing is often salvage, by the time they get there, if the tide is falling. Wait a few more hours.
* Be thankful you have a cat.