any tohatsu outboard experts?

[catalac08]

25hp (uprated by dealer to 30hp) 2 stroke 2005 vintage with about 450 hrs on the clock. Had to tilt the leg a few days ago and noticed that a small amount of oil was seeping from both the small holes holes close to the gearbox oil filler plug.
Had a look at workshop manual (clymer) which does not even show these holes on their diagrams and I am quite puzzled as to the function of these holes and where the oil is coming from. It has got to be gear oil but how & why.
Only possibility I can think of is that these holes are to drain the rear tube section that has the gear linkage in and is open at the top and perhaps I overfilled the gear oil, but that was at the start of last season and this oil is not milky as you might expect from oil sat in water or is does it only go milky when agitated.
I can obviously talk to the local tohatsu dealer but I would welcome any insight into what this is about and whether there is a problem before talking to him.

 

[VicS]

Not a Tohatsu expert but these holes are probably drain holes (I take it they are just quite small and not the water intakes) to allow water to drain from all parts of the leg.

Now the oil. If it is black and gungy it is probably just unburnt oil from the fuel, but if is obviously gear lube oil then you have a problem. A first wise precaution might be to check the gear oil for any signs of water ingress. Any milkiness indicates water!

Two possible places for gear oil to leak and appear where you see this oil are the drive shaft seals and the shift rod seal. Although there may be other gaskets or O rings that could leak.
Oil from the water intake would almost certainly indicate a defective drive shaft seal.

If you filled the gear case in the usual manner, ie via the drain hole until it flowed from the level hole (presumably all shown in your owners manual) it would be very difficult to overfill. In any case you should not be seeing oil escaping

THIS IS WORTH READING

BTW the outboard experts generally agree that non-manufacturers manuals are best use to level a wobbly chair or soak up oil spills.

 

[catalac08]

VicS - thanks for your comments and the link to the very informative notes on outboard lower leg problems. The gear oil is fine and it may well be unburned petroil which has evaporated and thickened. This is the sort of problem that I am sure that dealers may recommend a strip down and investigation. I will keep my eye on it and the gear oil-still puzzles me that it only weeped oil when the leg was tilted but perhaps just a little puddle accumulated after winterizing the engine and tilting let it drip out. Thanks again.