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Change stren drive lube

C

ceeclipz

Member
"I tried to change the lube on

"I tried to change the lube on the stern drive. 1990 alpha one, one 4.3 mercruiser.

I bought two bottles the first one went in fine, but the second was difficult to squeeze in.

Does anone have any tricks to make this easier.

Thanks"
 
"difficult to squeeze in&#

"difficult to squeeze in"

Are litterally squeezing the plastic bottle of oil? If you are using the quart bottle hand pump it should be a simple task. Do you have an OD oil reservior connected to the top vent? The oil should pump easily; fill the OD until it comes out the vent screw. Then install the vent screw first before installing the drain screw.
 
"Thats what I was doing, I dra

"Thats what I was doing, I drained the oil, then I put in a quart with a tip adapter and squeezed it in, then when I went for the second bottle It was really hard to squeeze in, and it never reached the top.

Guy, what do you mean by "hand pump it"?

I dont know if there is an OD oil reservoir as its not connected from the outside."
 
Wish you guys could see the pr

Wish you guys could see the pressure vessel i made for doing this. It has a quart resovoir on a steel pressure can with a drain that screws into the drive and a regulator to put air to it.
 
"Ceeclipz;
Your Alpha drive w

"Ceeclipz;
Your Alpha drive will not have remote oil monitor bottle. That came along with the Gen II starting in 1991.
The hand pump is readily available at any marine dealer and should not cost more than about 12 bucks. Makes the job a whole lot easier.
You need to make sure that the lube oil flows freely out of the top vent when you fill from the bottom, otherwise there is no assurance that the upper gears are properly covered with oil, and early failure will result.
Best procedure is to insert the vent screw once the oil starts to come out, then give it a few more strokes of oil, then quickly insert the bottom plug and tighten both.
This way you are sure the upper gears will still have adequate lube after it is run a time or two, and all the bubbles come out of the lower gear housing.
You should wind up using close to 2 quarts of oil.
Consider retrofitting a lube oil monitor. The kit is available from Merc and easy to install on any pre-Gen II drive.
Rod"
 
"YOu guys are the best....Than

"YOu guys are the best....Thanks alot, will do Rod, Guy thanks for the link.

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"
 
"[b]"How about some pics M

""How about some pics Mr Hays

Peter C "

Ayuh,......... You've got Me all Curious,.......

I used to have an "Adapter" on my 5gal. Pail Pump,....
But,...
I switched to Syn. oil,+ only buy it by the Qt. now,....
So, I'm back to the Buck2.98 plastic bottle pumps,........

Other than making sure it has a 2 Qt. reservoir,........
I can see myself now, Building a copy of Your invention,...................:D"
 
You guys are going to make me

You guys are going to make me go out to my shop and dig out that can and photograph it arent you? Stay tuned. Pics will be forthcoming.
 
"Gents - The tool i made to pu

"Gents - The tool i made to push oil up into sterndrives.

Here you see a camping fuel tank meant to take some prssure. I've drilled two holes in it and used tire valves (schrader valves) from the auto parts store ($2)and popped them into the holes. Remove the valve core on the bottom so oil will flow out and use a hose clamp to fasten a hose to it. The air pressure obviously pushes the oil out. I simply crack the cap to release pressure and add oil.
116870.jpg

The regulator is so i can just hook an air hose to it and dial in a few pounds of air. If you don't have one you can just zap the tire valve with air manually. Not too much pressure... obviously.
116871.jpg

To fabricate the fitting that screws into the drive, I simply found a bolt with the same threads, drilled all the way through it, drilled the cap end slightly bigger - threaded and screwed a brass nipple into the cap end (to accomodate the oil hose) and used an o-ring on the shoulder. You could use a quarter turn valve to cut oil flow if you like.
116872.jpg
"
 
"yes... i used a hogged out gr

"yes... i used a hogged out grease fitting and not a brass fitting as stated above. It was late and thats all i had on hand.
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"
 
"David;
That's a pretty n

"David;
That's a pretty neat rig.
Does the bottle hold enough fluid such that there is no way you will empty it before the drive is full, and risk filling the lower unit with air bubbles?
Or do you have to refill the bottle to complete the process?

Rod"
 
"Rod,

It doesn't hold e

"Rod,

It doesn't hold enough to fill the drive... and yes, its conceivable you could push air into the drive. I tend to just run it down till its almost empty, release the pressure and add more and go again until i get oil out of the vent hole.

The way to go would be to get a larger bottle and mark the exact quantity necessary to fill the drive.

That tool was built from what i had on hand in my shop. Cheeers."
 
"Ayuh,....... That's Prett

"Ayuh,....... That's Pretty Cool.......

I can see building 1 out of a small propane tank,.....
About a Gallon size would be Perfect........

Thanks for the Idea,............."
 
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