Cold water issues with IO's


flyboy1

flyboy1

New member
Greetings fellow cold water boaters. Hard to believe the season is only a couple of months away!

Having launched my 2017 37PC in early May of that year I noticed right off the bat that the port outdrive was using a lot of gear lube. This problem has continued through last season and my dealer mechanic has traced it to a bad prop shaft seal on that unit. It's now been replaced and I'm hopeful that the problem will be solved when I launch in May. I suppose it's possible that the seal was bad from the beginning or was damaged during original installation but I'm also wondering whether the 39 degree water I launched in may have played a part in ruining the seal. The dealer recommended that I use the straight 90W lube oil and that's all that's been used in my drives since new. The starboard drive has been fine, no leaks. I'm wondering, since I never operate in water over 72 degrees and usually much colder, whether it might be better to use the multi-viscosity 80W-90W lube instead of the straight weight. Any thoughts?
 
I and friends have boated Superior for years with Alpha's and Bravo's with no leak issues. Have even been snowed on more than once. Your boat is newer but just don't think it is cold water related although stranger things have happened.
 
The seal must have been a factory issue. I've run the Bravo III for 10 years with no problems. I have never lost that seal. In and out of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, etc.... 33 degree water to 85 degree water. I only us the manufacturer recommended Mercury Marine High-Performance gear lube. I'm pretty sure it's 80W90.
 
The B3 seals have always had issues, the newer design (one piece with 2 seals) is better but still can have some issues. Its almost always the inner seal and not the outer. Have a first gen and has never had a leak, and a brand new one which did have a leak. IMO if the drive leaks with 80W90 using 90W should not stop it.

The B3 genterates a lot of heat, so even when in cold water the drive comes out of the water and heat builds.
 
AllDodge said:
The B3 seals have always had issues, the newer design (one piece with 2 seals) is better but still can have some issues. Its almost always the inner seal and not the outer. Have a first gen and has never had a leak, and a brand new one which did have a leak. IMO if the drive leaks with 80W90 using 90W should not stop it.

The B3 genterates a lot of heat, so even when in cold water the drive comes out of the water and heat builds.
Click to expand...

AllDodge: Do you think the use of a drive shower helps to lower the heat on these B3's and thus helps with the longevity of the seals as well?
 
Agree, showers are a very good thing

Don't know but there was a guy on OSO selling 2 semrick style. I have the semrick style but just gets me 200 a pop for a piece of stainless tubing
 
I don't know how many hours are on those bravo threes you're running?
I noticed on my 28-ft SS that I used about 2-3 oz of oil over 50 hour period of runtime on each drive.
My drives have 300 hours on them. I have noticed the output shafts have a significant amount of deflection. I would venture to say that has a lot to do with how much oil gets past the seal. Typically an oil seal can handle .010 maybe .015 of movement side to side before it starts to leak leak.
Being these drives run a little warm and under pressure. It's no wonder they don't leak more. I do have showers on both my drives and that has made a big difference in the oil quality when drained. The m
ore weight you're pushing the hotter the drives are going to run so everything has to be perfect.
How much oil did yours use?
 
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