Engine Rotation

brichter14 · Addict Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 705

I was looking at my engine today in my sea ray 180 and i saw that it had a Left Hand or LH rotation. I have a merc high five prop on the outdrive that i know is a RH rotation. I have used the boat quite a few times with this prop on and had no troubles at all.

i guess my question is...if i had the wrong prop rotation the boat wouldnt function correctly right?

also, my lower unit seems to be leaking a bit of gear lubricant, i have to refil the reservoir every 2 weeks or so, anybody know what might be causing the leak?

882001 · Posted: Jun 08, 2010 2:06 pm Post subject:

it switches rotation in the out drive

brichter14 · Addict Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 705

thats what i thought, just didnt wanna screw something up

kartman · Posted: Jun 08, 2010 8:28 pm Post subject:

as for your leak, its probably a seal in the outdrive. prolly a 500$ fix right now, or a couple grand down the road.

okieexrider · Newbie Joined: 15 Jan 2010 Posts: 13 City: mustang

for the leak check the o-ring around the filler screw on the bottom of the drive.

pet575 · Posted: Jun 09, 2010 8:38 am Post subject:

Mar77 · Newbie Joined: 01 Apr 2010 Posts: 20

I have a bravo 3 that seems to be leaking very slowly.

I don't really want to accept it. Is that just how it goes? It only has about 100 hours on it...

brichter14 · Addict Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 705

its the mercruiser alpha one

pet575 · Posted: Jun 09, 2010 9:08 am Post subject:

Mar77, yep. It is a known issue that they will very slowly leak fluid. Mine doesn't really do it-I might add a couple of ounces of fluid over the course of an entire season. I'm sure that will change as time passes. I have 130 hours on mine.

brichter14, I'd definitely check the seals on your fill screws before doing anything else. Is the fluid milky colored when you drain it out? If so, that means you have water getting in there.

brichter14 · Addict Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 705

no its a greenish blue and its just kind of accumulating on the floor under the outdrive, about a 5 inch diamater area every week

pet575 · Posted: Jun 10, 2010 9:22 am Post subject:

Well, that is good then. Better to have it leaking out than to have water leaking in. Can you tell where it is leaking from when you see the puddle on the floor? Down near the skeg or up near the shift cable housing (top near gimbal joint)?

882001 · Posted: Jun 12, 2010 9:39 am Post subject:

gimbal house boot torn?

brichter14 · Addict Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 705

Its leaking further down about halfway down the outdrive

kartman · Posted: Jun 12, 2010 12:55 pm Post subject:

sounds like the quad ring went out, or is missing. its a small oring that goes inbetween the upper and lower half. if you do a water pump in it, it would replace the oring. (pics of where it is leaking from would confirm this.

brichter14 · Addict Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 705

it seems to be leaking from this bolt

heres a look at where its at under the lower unit

kartman · Posted: Jun 14, 2010 4:45 am Post subject:

about the only thing that i can think of is the quad ring. or it is running down the intermediate drive shaft from bad upper seals. (just got done doing all of this on my alpha 1 gen 2) what i would do is pull your outdrive, get a water pump and transom gasket kit, make a stand for it. (will post pics of the stand i built later today) follow the manual to replace the water pump (it will have a new quad ring with it) when you get done, preasure test the outdrive while it is on the stand. spray all the cracks, openings, fill plugs, and shaft seals with a good mixture of soapy water (dont go above 20psi) if you dont have any bubbles show up, you should be good. then you fill it back up from the BOTTOM untill it comes out the vent plug at the top. after that install it back on the boat. (its best to have a buddy help you, its easier) torque the 6 bolts to 50 ft lbs, run the boat up in the drive way on muffs (dont run it above 1500-2000 rpm) if everything checks out good, take it to the lake and enjoy!

JUST-IN-TIME · Posted: Jun 18, 2010 5:06 pm Post subject:

post the serial numbers and i will post up the factory manuals