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Gear oil in U-joint bellows.

T

talkwitdave

Member
Good day. I have a 1989 5.8L OMC Cobra. Removed the drive for annual inspection and found roughly half a cup of gear oil in the bellows. There is no trace of water in the oil. Pressure tested and vacuum tested the drive-passed both. Any ideas?

Thanks
 
talkwitdave said:
Good day. I have a 1989 5.8L OMC Cobra. Removed the drive for annual inspection and found roughly half a cup of gear oil in the bellows. There is no trace of water in the oil. Pressure tested and vacuum tested the drive-passed both. Any ideas?

Thanks
Click to expand...


FYI...... leak-down pressure testing with the oil still installed can lead to a false indication of good seals. This is because oil against the seal lip increases the lip's pressure against it's sealing surface.
Always drain the oil for a pressure leak-down test.

The vacuum leak-down test can be performed either way!
 
Ok good.
There may be another explanation, and that would be if the drive was overfilled with gear oil!
As a stern drive heats up, the gear oil will expand some. The amount of air space above the gear oil will generally compensate for this mild degree of expansion. If over filled, the air space is minimized.


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