Alpha One oil leakage

"I should post this message tw

"I should post this message two years ago but nothing wrong happened so far. I have Mercruiser Alpha One in my Sea-Ray Bowrider 175 with oil reservoir. During the season I have to add some oil to reservoir. If I'm not doing this end of the seanson I have about 1/4 of the reservoir when it was full on the beginning of the season. I add about 120 hours on my boat yearly. I change oil regulary after the season. Oil is clean (not milky, no any water in it). I wonder if it is normal or I have small leakage somewhere. Such situation is from the beginning (I have that boat third season, bought it second hand). Is it possible it is air bubble after oil change and then during the season oil is "filling" it. What do you think about it ?"

"I wouldn't worry about it

"I wouldn't worry about it. They put the reservoir on there for a reason and you found it. It's much better to have the oil seep out from pressure buildup in the gear case than to have it migrate in. If you're filling it from the bottom, there shouldn't be much of an air bubble but you can change it for this winter and check the level next season after running it the first time."

"Greg:

I have a 2003 Stingr

"Greg:

I have a 2003 Stingray 180LS with the 3.0L Merc Alpha 1. I purchased the boat used this summer with only 113hrs on it Late July. Has 148.5hrs now. Mine does the same thing. Oil is in perfect condition not a drop of water in in looks just as blue as the day it was filled. No oil drips anywhere. I, like you, was wondering what might be the cause of this. Given my 30+ years in boating if I do not see water when checking the actual lowerunit and engine mounted bottle, I'm not going to worry much about it.

Take care,

T."

"Let's see now....At 7 or

"Let's see now....At 7 or 8 bucks a quart and, say a quart leakage a year, that's...not a problem to be concerned with.

My old Alpho I leaked half that much a season.

Jeff"

"My '96 Gen II Alpha devel

"My '96 Gen II Alpha developed a leak 2 years ago that turned out to be the shift shaft seal. Simple enough fix and no problem since. The dealer told me these seals do fail occasionally.
The nice thing about an engine mounted oil reservoir is that it keeps the leg oil pressure positive relative to the water, due to being well above the water level. This means that when there is a leak, the oil leaks out instead of water leaking in. Way better arrangement.
Rod"

"The seals needing occasional

"The seals needing occasional replacement is the reason outdrives should be pressure and vacuum tested, also occasionally."