gear lube leaking from prop shaft?

[bryboob]

hi, boat has been sitting for 9 months now gear lube is leaking from prop shaft
is there some sort of seal that needs to be changed and how to do it? (se106)

[admin]

Is it leaking directly from the seals that are visible around the propshaft, or is is just coming out of the exhaust area? If it is right at the propshaft seal, the bearing carrier has to be pulled and the seals driven out and replaced. You need some special tools to do it. If it is coming out the exhaust cavity, it could be several things. Water pump base, o-ring on bearing carrier, seal in upper unit. The water pump base is pretty easy, but the others require special tools.

It is always best to pressure test the drive to find the source of the leak, unless you can see it coming directly out of something.

Tech Support

[bryboob]

haven't taken of the prop yet, just see it leaking behind the prop down the fin of the drive unit.

[bryboob]

how to pressure test it? with what?

[admin]

Getting the prop off is the first step. Once it is off you can see the prop shaft seal. If it is not coming from there, then the most likely spot is the water pump base.

To pressure test, you need to put about 15 psi into the unit. They make specific pumps to do it, but you might be able to use a bicycle tire pump and the fitting from the gear lube pump. Once you have pressure into it, you can listen for a leak. You may have to separate the halves and pressure test each half seperately. You have to plug the oil passage when pressure testing the halves separately.

Tech Support

[bryboob]

thanks' for your help, if it is a very slow leak would it be ok to drive the boat for a few hours,because
yesterday I filled it with gear lube and cleaned it up and I don't even have a drip ?