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I'm a first time boat owner and don't really know much about it yet. I just bought a boat that I thought was in outstanding shape considering what year it is. So, I take it out for a few HOT LAPS and and a few days later im looking over things and notice some what im assuming is gear oil on the 3 rubber boots in my outdrive and a little bit more on the plate on the inside where the shaft goes through the transom I think theres some U-joints there. Now its not a whole lot just a tiny bit on the boots a liitle more on the inside. Its a Mercruiser Alpha One. Can anyone tell me if I really need to be worried about water getting in the outdrive and doing alot of damage?
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I would pull the drive and check it out. Oil leaking or water getting in, gimbal bearing, u-joints going bad will all lead to a real expensive repair. If you need a manual let me know.
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If your not too familar with the drive, or not too mechanically inclined, have a Mercruiser trained mechanic pull the drive and do a service. If oil is getting out, water may be getting in, and that will kill a drive quick like. Not worth running the boat until it's fixed.
Darrell.
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If your mechanically inclined the Alphas are not hard at all to work on, although the tools needed are pretty expensive. Pick up a Merc service manual for your drive. Alpha 1 = Merc #6, Alpha 1 Gen 2 = #14 I think. They are all over Ebay for $10-20. New your looking at $100.
I recently rebuilt both my Alpha's and it's not too hard at all. If gear oil is leaking out, water is leaking in.
A quick way to find out for sure is to drain the drive of gear oil and pressure test the drive. If there is a leak you will know. Pressure test gauges run about $40 but you can make them yourself. I did mine out of spare parts in the shop. Since it's a new to you part I would have it gone over if you don't feel capable.
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/3...pha5ol6.th.jpg (http://img409.imageshack.us/my.php?i...walpha5ol6.jpg)
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If your u-joint bellows has gear lube in it the u-joint seal is leaking. This does not mean that water is getting into the drive. The only way water will get into the drive past the u-joint seal is if the u-joint bellows is leaking water in. You would then have two sepreate issues..... the u-joint seal and the u-jont bellows. Pull the drive immediately and find out the cause. If there are no signs of water, have the u-joint seal replaced. I reccomend a certified Merc. mechanic. You didn't say what year it is, some years require torqueing the pinion nut to a specified rolling torque for the back to back tapered beairings. There are many things an experienced Merc. mechanic will look at when replacing a u-joint seal.
