Water in oil consensus

[johnnynegaunee]

"I broke the skeg off early in

"I broke the skeg off early in the year, launching in low water (than I realized). Anyway the guy that welded it for me assured me he wouldn't hurt the seals, had done many before no prob, etc. Well this fall I see about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of water in the drainage, enough to make it almost a caramel candy color more opaque than clear it usually has been. I have an R drive '72. I'm a little reluctant to tear it down if I don't have too. I've broken enough slightly out of spec. machinery to know I could end up searching for antique parts instead of say...maybe just increasing my oil change to twice a year instead of just the fall. What do you think, how much is too much? Thanks"

 

[rod_stewart]

"John;
Here is a thought. Any

"John;
Here is a thought. Any amount of water in the lube oil is undesireable, as it makes a lousy lubricant, and you really can't tell how much water is emulsified in the lube oil. Tiny emulsified water droplets is what gives the oil that milky opaque tinge.

If you convert over to a Merc remote drive oil monitor (which I believe can be added to any of the older drives), the monitor will assure that the drive oil has a slightly positive pressure relative to the water, and you won't leak water into the drive no matter what. You may leak a tiny amount of lube oil out of a failing seal, but you won't leak water in.
I added a remote monitor to my old #1 drive on an 898 a few years back and it worked like a dam.
Rod"