Conference vicki::boats

re                       <<< Note 550.0 by HPSTEK::BHOVEY >>>
>                    -< HELP WITH OUTDRIVE LUBRICATION.... >-

	Here's what works best for me, though mine is a Merc, so its a 
little bit different:

	The first time I tried it I decided there had to be a better 
way, its a mucky business.  So, the second time I removed the drain 
and level plugs and while it was dumping I went off to the hardware
store with the drain plug and a bottle of lube.  I bought a couple of
feet of plastic tubing that was  a) the right internal diameter to
take the lube bottle nozzle and  b) the right external diameter to fit
the drain/fill plug hole tightly.  I had to eyeball this, it turned
out to be a bit too tight, but cutting it off at ~30 degree angle
allowed me to get it in there.  I connect the tube to the fill hole
first, then slice the tip off the fill bottle nozzle, connect to the
plastic tube and squeeze away.  One of the biggest advantages of
having the lube bottle on the end of a tube is that I can squeeze it
between my knee and the stern of the boat, I have something solid to
push against. When lube appears at the level plug I stop squeezing,
replace the level plug to create an air lock, then remove the tube and
replace the fill/drain plug. 

	Since I always seem to winterize late and  "springerize"  
early, I find it worth while to stand the lube bottle by the wood 
burning stove for an hour or so before I start.  Gee, I can't imagine
doing this job at 75 degrees F !   (-: 

	Yes, you  *_DO_*  need to fill them from the bottom, this is 
the  ONLY  way to expel all the air and know that you have the proper 
amount of lube in there.

	Reg

	BTW, its probably a good assumption that too much oil could be
as harmful as too little, so don't overfill.

    Hi Bill,
    
    This is the first year I did my boat myself, so I had to take a
    trip to the Marine Store to buy all the necessary paraphernalia
    to do the job. Well, when I was selecting the lower unit lube, the
    sales guy strongly recommended I buy the oil in a 32 oz. screw-top
    bottle (Quicksilver in this case) and buy a hand pump for about
    6 bucks (made by LubriMatic). The unit has a fitting on one end
    that screws into the lower (drain) hole in the outdrive, and the
    other end with the pump screws onto the oil bottle. All you have
    to do is pump away, and no runs, drips or errors :-}. It was a piece
    of cake, and well worth the 6 buck investment!
    
    Jon

    
    I tried to "Tube IT" for a year and went to the $6.00 Pump!! It
    absolutly works GREAT!!!  Yes, you do have to fill it from the bottom.
    On the Mercruiser, you leave the top vent plug open until the oil
    runs out of it. I don't know if you can put too much oil into it??
    It simply runs out the top. (No condensation that way either)
    
    I also suspect the pump is a standard thread size that will work
    on any I/O.
    
    Get Pumping!! (????)
    
    Don

    Does anyone know if there's a "volume" of I/O lube out there besides
    11 or 16 oz. sizes available? I ask because the OMC Cobra drive
    I have uses 64 oz. of oil, and the best I could  find was a bunch
    of 16 oz. tubes, with the potential for a lot of waste. I saw the
    32 oz. bottle mentioned back there, but is Quicksilver compatible
    with OMC? 
    
    Mike

    Mike,
    
    I don't believe there is any difference between Mercruiser
    (Quicksilver) and OMC, but I'm not 100% sure. The stuff I used was
    Quicksilver, came in a 32 oz. bottle much like ordinary automobile
    oil, and stunk just like the SAE 90 oil you put in manual
    transmissions. The bottle did not specify the weight, but since
    it is used in a gear train, I'd expect it's SAE 90. The only difference
    I know of in 90 weight oil is, from automobile applications, that
    there is a special type for hypoid gears, and a type for normal
    circular gears. There are compatibility problems between these two.
    I'd recommend checking out the OMC/Mercruiser compatibility, just
    to make sure, and then if there's no problem just use two 32 oz.
    jugs of the Quicksilver stuff.
    
    Hope this helps.
    
    Jon

re            <<< Note 550.4 by SALEM::TAYLOR_M "Passing Lane Addict" >>>
>                                 -< Big Juggs >-

>    Does anyone know if there's a "volume" of I/O lube out there besides
>    11 or 16 oz. sizes available? I ask because the OMC Cobra drive
>    I have uses 64 oz. of oil, and the best I could  find was a bunch

	It depends on how much you believe in using the manufacturer's 
brand name  vs  oil company names.  Why not drop by a marina and ask 
hoiw they buy it ?, there must be something between the 16 oz and 55 
gallon sizes.

Aside:	I buy 85W-90-140 axle oil in 2 1/2 gallon jugs;  though not
for the boat, I'm one of the unusual people who actually changes the
oil in the cars' axles. 

	Reg

    re .5
    
     I have used OMC oil in a Mercruiser outdrive. I went to the marina
    told them I needed oil for a Mercruiser lower unit, and they hand
    me a tube that says OMC on it, and said it`s the same stuff. 
    
     So, if you can use OMC lube in a Mercruiser, why not use Quicksilver
    (Mercruiser) in an OMC   8^)
    
    
    				jeff b. 
    
    

    
    Mike, here is some help regarding your original question, I own an OMC
    5.0litre Cobra Stern Drive and successfully drained and refilled the
    lower unit several weeks ago.  Not without some difficulties I might
    add but that is a story for another time.
    
    First, disregard the "fill" instructions as described in the owners
    manual, the tech writer for the section obviously never attempted this
    proceedure and has little comprehension of the basic laws of physics.
    
    The Proceedure as I did it:
    
    - Drain the lower unit as the manual instructs, remove lower drain plug
      and upper (just below pivit housing) dip stick plug.
    
    - Replace the lower drain plug and remove the fill plug located just
      above the cavitation plate on the starboard side toward the front of
      the lower unit.
    
    - Place the dip stick plug into is threaded hole but do not thread it
      in.
    
    - Cut the noses off each of the plastic lube bottles and place them
      within easy reach.  (By the way the 32oz bottle approach with a small
      hand pump is a much easier method)
    
    - Begin to fill the lower unit through the fill plug, Don't worry about
      losing any oil during the first two tubes, it is flowing down through
      the lower unit oil casing below the fill hole for the first 16oz or
      so.  Also do not worry about completely emptying each tube, it is an
      impossible task.
    
    - After emptying the third tube into the fill plug, thread the dip stick
      plug into its threaded hole to a snug fit before removing the oil
      tube, this will create the air lock to keep the oil from running out
      while you reach for and insert the next tube.
    
    - After you insert the fourth tube loosen the dip stick plug empty the
      tube and snug up the drain plug again before removing and inserting
      the next tube.  Follow this process untill the balance of the tubes
      have been emptied.  Before removing the last tube snug up the dip
      stick plug.  
    
    - Replace the fill plug, remove the dip stick plug and pour in the
      remaining little bit left in each of the tubes through the dip stick
      plug hole, it will only be a couple of oz's at best but you will need
      all of the 64oz to completely fill the unit.  The oil will not reach
      the very top of the dip stick hole but should register on the dip
      stick at this point.
    
 If this process does not work and you are still having difficulty filling
    the lower unit I can only suggest that possibly there is some sort of
    blockage in the oil caseing, or (and no harm intended) you may be
    filling through the wrong hole? (check the picture in the manual.     
    You do want to fill through the fill hole to insure there are no air
    pockets.
 
    
    

    
    
    	THANKS FOR ALL THE INPUT YOU HELPED CONSIDERABLY. I THINK I'LL TRY
    THE PUMP METHOD. SOUNDS LESS MESSY AND TIME CONSUMING.
    
    
    BILL  

re            <<< Note 550.8 by SALEM::TAYLOR_M "Passing Lane Addict" >>>
>               -< OMC says "Multi-Viscosity for '86 and later" >-

>    Reg, Judging by *my* GM K5 Blazer's reliability, I can see why you
>    change your diff fluids! You got the 'Suburban, right?

	Hey, enough of the GMC bashin' already !  (-:   
I'm not worried specifically about GMC products' reliability, I did/do
annual changes on the Ford, AMC, Mitsubishi and Volvo vehicles too.  
Since I have >2x boat $K in the 'burb and I change the boat's  "rear end 
oil"  twice a year (for a lot less than half the hours)  its hardly 
going overboard (hah !) to change the rear end oil in the cars once a 
year, ???   Maybe this belongs in a  "Car Kmiles Equivalent to x? boat 
hours"  topic ?  {inverse of the one we already hve}

Check your maintenance schedules, its probably  "recommended". 


>    I saw my marina's hookup the other day. They use a 5-gal pail fitted
>    with a hose fitting to accept their pump. 

	I've seen those, looked nice but it would take quite a while
for a single user to break even on one of those - 5 years at 2 changes
a year @ 1/2 gallon a time, maybe a club purchase ? 

	R	{still hoping to get out of I/Os soooooon (-:  }

You can buy OMC hi-vis in 1-gallon jugs. They (OMC) has a plastic pump that
screws into the jug, with a 18" or so flexible tube terminated with a
soft rubber neck. This neck fits nicely into the fill hole of my Johnson
outboards. I just pump away. No more tube squeezing. A jug lasts me a
couple of years.

Art

    i have the volvo pentax outdrive with a straight four 125 horse
    motor. it's a 1985 and i just bought it a few weeks ago.
    i consulted with a service manager at a bayliner dealer and the
    jerk told me my outdrive takes 90-w gear oil. i had a half of quart
    in it before i found out it takes 30-w straight non detergent.
    i got the boat from someone who had never own a boat(either) and
    he told me when he winterized it he pulled the outdrive oil plug
    looking to drain any water out of it. so it was about a qt. low.
    after putting in the 90-w someone told me it was o.k. but i wasn't
    taking chances with my new toy so i drained it completly.
    The big problem with filling my outdrive was a couple of things.
    first of all it takes 30-w and that i couldn't find inthe squeezable
    tubes for filling from the drain plug hole. second was my outdrive
    doesn't have a filler hole up above the drain hole so it can only
    be filled from the hole on the top where you would check the level
    of fluid. thats a problem because that hole is only about 3/8 dia.
    and there are no other holes for an air breather. so every once
    you pour in takes a "a life time to get to the bottom or at least
    far enough down to be able to add some more. well i tried everything
    and the only way i found that didn't waste my entire day was this.
      get yourself an oil can with a long tappered  snout the kind that
    you pump the bottom to get the oil out. take the top off and cut
    a couple of inches off so the hole is a little bigger and get a
    small funnel that will fit into the back of the cover. then poke
    the tappered part of it just a little bit pass the threaded part
    of the hole and on an angle so that it can breath and then slowly
    dump the oil into the funnel. it works great as long you don't pour
    to fast. the trick is to only pour as fast as it will take it without
    back filling the funnel. if anyone out there has the same set-up
    i had then you probably already pulled your hair out triing to do
    this and then pulled it to the nearest dealer and payed them to
    pump it in. good luck and happy boating 

    re.13
    In situations like yours I use a "gear lube bottle" and fill it
    with the proper wt. oil or lube. To eliminate the "air bound" 
    problem I use a piece of 1/8" plastic tubing that I insert into the
    filler hole and up into the plastic bottle all the way to the highest
    point. Works like a charm, air goes up into the bottle as the gear 
    case fills. 
               
    Jim

    Re .13>
    
    	Something doesn't sound right. Are you sure there is only one
    hole for the oil? There should be two...one to drain/fill and the
    second which is a vent.
    	Also what is the source of your information regarding the weight
    of the oil? I've only used "lower unit" oil and didn't concern myself
    with the weight but I assumed that it was 90 weight gear oil.
    
    Just trying to help,
    Paul 

    
    Re: Volvo Outdrives...(At least the 290)
    
	I have Volvo Penta 290 outdrives and there are three holes for oil:

1) On the bottom of the outdrive for draining
2) On top containing the screw-in dip stick to measure fluid level
3) Near the top/under removable plate on the front (when viewed from the read)
   of the outdrive (the plate is held in by 2 screws) and is there to fill the
   outdrive with oil.

	YES VOLVO OUTDRIVES USE REGULAR ENGINE OIL.  Mine calls for 10W40, the
same stuff I put in the engines...And not straight 30 or 40 weight either as I
was used to putting in my 260 Merc.  If I remember correctly each drive takes
about 4 quarts (US).

Regards,
Dave "Harpoonist"

OMC recommends their "Triple-Gard" lube for the prop shaft, steering rod and
other stuff.  Doe anyone know what type of lubricant this is?  I'd like to
substitute if necessary.


Thanks,

Chris

    
    
    Its the best, there ain't no substitute.  I have inboards, i use
    
    it all over the place.....
    
    JIm