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I purchased a new 1.47:1 ratio SE-106 in July 2009, the drive had no run time that season (didn’t install it until spring 2010). The drive is coupled to a bone stock 260hp power plant, the boat’s only use is trolling for salmon (Lake Michigan / fresh water) where we run a couple miles under power then cut to idle and spend the next 4-6 hours with the engine between 700-1000rpm. The drive currently has about 250 hours on it.
I do all my own maintenance, worked for several years as a marine mechanic. The drive has never been run low on fluid, I followed the SEI break-in procedure after first installing the drive. The fluid I use is Mercruiser / Quicksilver SAE-90 “High Performance Gear Lube”, same as I have put into a hundred different Mercruiser drives for customers over the years.
I first changed the drive fluid after about 20h run time and had the usual amount of fine sediment on the magnet that I have seen in the past with other new drives. The subsequent end-of-season fluid change in 2010 looked good with only a small amount of sediment on the magnet. However, the end of season fluid change in 2011 had a bunch of larger chunks and flakes on the magnet. The material is silver in color and sticks to the magnet. The fragments are thin, similar to the chunks you see when chrome coating peels off of plastic or pot metal. My first thought was that it was some material off of a case-hardened bearing or gear. The gear oil has come out looking and smelling pretty normal every fluid change with no water in it.
There were no weird noises that I noticed last year and aside from the chunks everything seemed fine until I pulled the drain plug. Any idea what this stuff is? Should I be worried?
I do all my own maintenance, worked for several years as a marine mechanic. The drive has never been run low on fluid, I followed the SEI break-in procedure after first installing the drive. The fluid I use is Mercruiser / Quicksilver SAE-90 “High Performance Gear Lube”, same as I have put into a hundred different Mercruiser drives for customers over the years.
I first changed the drive fluid after about 20h run time and had the usual amount of fine sediment on the magnet that I have seen in the past with other new drives. The subsequent end-of-season fluid change in 2010 looked good with only a small amount of sediment on the magnet. However, the end of season fluid change in 2011 had a bunch of larger chunks and flakes on the magnet. The material is silver in color and sticks to the magnet. The fragments are thin, similar to the chunks you see when chrome coating peels off of plastic or pot metal. My first thought was that it was some material off of a case-hardened bearing or gear. The gear oil has come out looking and smelling pretty normal every fluid change with no water in it.
There were no weird noises that I noticed last year and aside from the chunks everything seemed fine until I pulled the drain plug. Any idea what this stuff is? Should I be worried?
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