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Volvo penta 275 stern drive

"here is my issue. I took my

"here is my issue. I took my boat out three weeks ago and it ran great. I took it out again on Sunday and the outdrive was really nosiy and there was a big vibration that I could feel all the way throwout the boat. The motor was loud, not like the normal smooth sound that I usually here. I could here like something is grinding when the boat is out of the water and I have the ears on the motor. I changed the oil in the outdrive and put hd 30 w in it. When I checked it, it looks like it has some black in it. When I changed it the oil didn't look like the oil I put in and did have a little black in it. did I put the wrong oil in it, and if so is that why it is running like crap. I hope that I didn't ruin anything. Please get back to me asap as I am getting ready to go on a big camping trip this weekend and hope I don't have to go boat less. Thanks."
 
"Black oil = burnt bearings.On

"Black oil = burnt bearings.On the + side is no mention of metal in the oil. On a 270 - 30 w oil I am sure is not the problem, Most likely just time.
All things considered , burnt oil , bad vibrations,Time to dig deeper before you take it out for the weekend.
Other possiabiltys are U joints , bellhouseing bearing - flex plate.
First thing to do is remove the leg , Visually inspect u joints , Turn the prop shaft of stern drive in and out of gear and feel for tight spots or execessive back lash. Hook up water supply to s hose and run engine . sound different or the same.
The reason to do this is to try to eliminate where the problem is and to not waste money fixing what doesn`t need fixing."
 
"what and where is the leg? th

"what and where is the leg? there is no metal in the oil but if there was what would if look like? Would it be chunks of metal or all grinded up? And how hard would it be to replace the u joints, bellhousing bearing and flex plate? If there is a guide that maybe I could dowload to find out where these parts are as well. Oh and where are the bearings at as well. Thank you for the response and hope to hear back as the weekend is near. I am pretty mechanically inclined, just don't know much when it comes to stern drives."
 
"I already read through those

"I already read through those yesterday while browsing through the site. It jsut reapeats stuff. Doesn't really tell me how to go about doing it, how hard it might be to do it and what to look for when taking the u joints out."
 
"Edward, the previous threads

"Edward, the previous threads repeat stuff because we keep dealing with the same issues over and over in this forum. It seems to me that the responses on those threads were enough to satisfy the people who asked the original questions; and, in any case, I thought the links would clarify for you what the "leg" is, and how to go about u-joints and primary shaft bearing replacement. If you want more precise instructions, I recommend you get hold of a copy of the Seloc and Clymer manuals. You will need them if you want to do the job yourself.

In any case, you will have to work really hard if you want to complete the job before the weekend. To get the bellhousing bearing replaced you need to pull out both the engine and the bellhousing. And if you find damage in the upper gear assembly, you may have to put up with further challenges.

Also, there is no rocket science involved if you are mechanically inclined and follow the Seloc or Clymer's instructions.

Good luck."
 
thank you. I figured it out an

thank you. I figured it out and the advice did help. I pulled the tranny and found that the u joints are shot. I am going to replace them. What is that bearing in the top of the outdrive when you take off the top plate?
 
thank you. if I put the wrong

thank you. if I put the wrong kind of oil imn my stern drive will make it loud like the noise I am hearing? And will it turn my oil slightly black? I used hd 30w in the outdrive.
 
"It is difficult to put the &#

"It is difficult to put the "wrong kind of oil" in your outdrive. The manual says that you put the same oil as in your engine, so 30W should have been OK. Some people even have used gear oil without adverse effects.

In my opinion, the oil should not be the source of the noise. You can always drain your current oil, then put a fresh batch of 10W-30 and try again."
 
I am going to try the new oil.

I am going to try the new oil. Is the discoloration of the oil that I talked about normal? Like I said it has a grayish color to it.
 
does that mean that water is g

does that mean that water is getting into the oil somehow? And if so then how many places could it be getting in from? I am going to be replacing the u joints so should I replace any other seals at that time as weell.
 
May be a good idea to purchase

May be a good idea to purchase the Seloc or Cylmer manuals which should answer alot of your concerns. If you visualy inspect your out-drive and look for posible H2O entry locations you should have a better idea of suspect areas. If you use the link that EL furnished it shows alot of suspect areas as well.
 
thanks. Will take a look at on

thanks. Will take a look at one of those manuals and see what I coujld fine. I appreciate evferything that everyone has helped me with. Thanks and I will let you know what the outcome is. Hope if works as I need my boat for the weekend.
 
"Check this thread:

[url=""


"Check this thread:

http://www.marineengine.com/discus/messages/12487/23799.shtml

In any case, if the outdrive oil is milky and you need the boat for the weekend, I would just change the oil and test drive the boat. If all looks fine, then I would use it for the weekend and try to find some time to replace some seals in the outdrive, as well as to inspect the u-joints and even the output shaft bearing. Remember, if you have water emulsified in the oil, that happened over a period of time, not overnight.

Meanwhile, you may want to get hold of a mechanic's stethoscope and listen around the bellhousing and the top of the outdrive to pinpoint the possible source of the grinding noise you reported."
 
"This isn't true...I chang

"This isn't true...I changed my outdrive oil, then checked the following day after a few hours running the boat on the water...it was milky..."
 
"Bob, let me reword this: &#34

"Bob, let me reword this: "if you have water emulsified in the oil, that <u>will normally happen</u> over a period of time, not overnight".

It seems obvious that if the shift mechanism and/or the propeller shaft seals are blown or too worn or wrongly installed, or if you forgot to install the oil drain plug in the outdrive, then the outdrive will fill almost immediately immediately with water. But as far as I am concerned those are not "normal" circumstances, are they?

If your outdrive oil turned milky overnight, I suggest that you have a severe water ingress problem and you should try to find the source and correct the leak before using the boat again."
 
Yes...I know I have a big leak

Yes...I know I have a big leak or leaks somewhere...I am taking the outdrive apart as soon as I get the manual in the mail...
 
Likely sources of water ingres

Likely sources of water ingress in the outdrive are the propeller shaft seal (usually ruined by fishing line) and the shift mechanism seal.
 
"Thanks for the info...my driv

"Thanks for the info...my drive bellows ripped and is leaking oil, so I would imagine that seal is ruined too...what do you think?"
 
"I think that you are in for s

"I think that you are in for some unscheduled work. In addition to renewing the bellows, you will have to renew the outdrive universal seal, as well as the universal joints. Also, the bellhousing bearing may have been affected if the outer lip seal in the bellhousing did not stop the water from reaching the bearing. In that case, you will have to pull engine and bellhousing together to replace the bearing."
 
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