Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Alpha 1 Gen 1 shift shaft seal

D

Dsawyer44

New member
I have a 1986 Alpha 1 Gen 1 mercruiser outdrive. There is a small oil leak that seems to be coming from the shift shaft. I was told that the bottom does not have a seal, just a bushing. The top of the shaft is supposed to have two seals. Is this a known place for these units to leak oil or could there be another reason. Is there oil above these seals and where would this oil come from. It seems that i also have a small amount of water in the gear oil when i drained it. If i change the upper shaft seals would this solve my problems? Thanks for any help. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Whoever told you that knows nothing about the outdrive

The seals for the shift shaft that goes thru the exaust cavity has seals that keep water out of the shift cable area, there is no oil in this area. The shift shaft bushing in the lower unit where the splined shaft is HAS a seal . If your leak is there buy,make,borrow the correct tool for removal and installation. The Sierra bushings are alum and the newest merc one is a plastic composition and both come with the new seal installed
 
mer91-31107t_f.jpg
 
Bt Doctur said:
pull the drive off and give us the results
Click to expand...
I separated the top and bottom outdrives and could not find any oil. The only oil or grease was inside of one bellows. It was not the exhaust bellows but the driveshaft bellows. Wher the shift shaft is it appeared to be dry. Maybe the exhaust water wased out the oil. Ther was no oil around the shift shaft. I read that it could be the carrier seal or the driveshaft seal.
 
When you removed the drive as a unit was there evidence of oil or water in the bellow?
When you drained the drive to split it how much oil was drained out?
 
No sign of any water or oil in the bellows. I drained all the oil. It might have been a little discolored, maybe due to water in the oil but very very little.
 
then pressure test the lower unit and you will most likely see bubbles at the shift shaft. use the tool to remove and install the new bushing.
Now pay attention
When you loosen the old bushing have something to hold the splined shaft down while you pull the bushing up and off.
 
Back
Top