DP-E Duo PROP Emulsified oil

[sniffer]

Found a snapped hose clip on portside leg UJ bellow, didn't seem to be much water ingress but oil is emulsified.

Would snapped clip be the cause and a simple replacement of oil do the job or is more work needed? Seals?

The guy up here that I would normally use is snowed under so I might have to tackle it myself.

The starboard leg is a little contaminated too and although the clips weren't snapped on that side they were about to by the look of them.

Any comments welcome.

 

[simonfraser]

which oil is emulsified ? there should not be much in the UJ bellow

 

[scottie]

When were the legs last serviced And bellows replaced ?

 

[Portofino]

What sort of seal has the U/J got where it enters the leg ? The spinning shaft bit ?

 

[sniffer]

which oil is emulsified ? there should not be much in the UJ bellow

The oil at the dip and out of drain plug. None in UJ area and oil, though emulsified, was not watery.

 

[sniffer]

When were the legs last serviced And bellows replaced ?

Two seasons ago but visual check last season and bellows and clips were fine. Should have at least changed clips though on reflection.

 

[sniffer]

What sort of seal has the U/J got where it enters the leg ? The spinning shaft bit ?

Dont know the answer to that.

 

[simonfraser]

The oil at the dip and out of drain plug. None in UJ area and oil, though emulsified, was not watery.

that means you have water in the DPE, leaking seal somewhere, check the other leg for the same

 

[oldgit]

In for a penny !.
The seals cost pennies, its the lift out and lost time thats a pain.
Shaft seals
Gearshift seals
The bellows .
The failure of the stainless worm clips is not that uncommon, possibly due to over tightening ?

 

[DavidJ]

Had that a couple of years back. Need new seals but also the bearing may now have some corrosion. As said cheap parts but expensive fix which cannot wait.

 

[Portofino]

I had it a couple of times within my 9 yr tenure of DPG s .
Service guys just attended to the it what ever it was .Always discovered at the annual .Had a few seals and once the actual U/J replaced .Expensive job looking back totting up .

Theres an inevitability if you think about it ,Not if but when .

Any outdrive owners if they “never had emulsified oil “ would a better discussion thread .Toss IPS owners in too .
If you like for balance ask “ any shaft drive owners about drippy shaft seals “ - different consequences though.

Allegedly so I was told the genuine VP gear oil has additives which can cope with a certain amount of water ingestion .If that’s true it’s not all bad news .
After all you have no idea how long it’s been emulsified .Thankfully nothing major needed replacing .

As an aside modern cars ( well Behr ) have oil sensors that use the conductivity as one parameter.So it’s not beyond the wit of even aVP tech to design , more like buy a Behr off the self sensor and fit them to legs , IPS pods and what have you .
I think IPS has ? Happy to stand corrected on that or equally be shocked if not

Water or other contamination changes the conductivity of the oil = another dash light or error msg .

Older drives have no such thing so I guess VP sells more replacements as a result .

 

[Momac]

Allegedly so I was told the genuine VP gear oil has additives which can cope with a certain amount of water ingestion .I

Yes . Fully synthetic 75w-90 gear GL4 gear oil as specified by Volvo Penta is tolerant of a little water.
But the oil doesn't necessarily have to be from a bottle with Volvo Penta label on it.

 

[QBhoy]

Hi. I’ve had a couple of these 290 based boats. They are infamous for taking water in through the oil drain seals. Especially when they have been nipped or deflected when tightening the screw up. Known loads of others had the same issues too. The o ring is easily compromised. The solution is to put a blob of silicone over the drain plug each year after the oil change. I and lots of others in the marina here started doing that. Never an issue thereafter. Hope that helps.

 

[sniffer]

Thanks for all the comments. Trying to get a 'professional' to do the job here in the short term is impossible it seems.

The viscosity of the oil seemed ok, not ideal and it is a concern as to where it eminates from but I think I will refill with new oil (I've been flusing the milk all day) and wait until September for a full leg service.

I'm not going to be doing many hours or any heavy loading so based on the state of the oil I should be ok.

The other alternative is to tackle it myself, so I'll do some 'Googling' tonight. Anybody know of an online servicing manual for the DP-E?

 

[philipdawsonladds]

Simple thing to check - you need to change the seals on the oil filler cap and drain plug each time - I didn't do this once and water found its way in - cheap (surprisingly)

 

[oldgit]

Think you can do a DIY pressure test ? to locate source of failed seals.

In the case of my outdrives , was the prop shaft seal usually that failed allowing water into the gearbox. Fortunately problem was always picked up before any serious damage to propshaft.
The gearshift seals are dead easy job.
The real killer is when the U/J bellows fail , water gets into the transom assembly and takes out the jackshaft bearings and eventuallythe U/J bearings.
On some older outdrives repair will involve moving the engine because the inner bearing can only be driven out from inside the boat.
It all can be done DIY if you are handy with tools.

 

[sniffer]

Simple thing to check - you need to change the seals on the oil filler cap and drain plug each time - I didn't do this once and water found its way in - cheap (surprisingly)

Yeah, I have new gasket washers & o-rings on the way. I'll add a blob of sealant too as QBhoy suggested.

 

[sniffer]

Think you can do a DIY pressure test ? to locate source of failed seals.

I'll see what that involves and do it if I can.

I think the UJ is okay, as best I can see.

 

[volvopaul]

Found a snapped hose clip on portside leg UJ bellow, didn't seem to be much water ingress but oil is emulsified.

Would snapped clip be the cause and a simple replacement of oil do the job or is more work needed? Seals?

The guy up here that I would normally use is snowed under so I might have to tackle it myself.

The starboard leg is a little contaminated too and although the clips weren't snapped on that side they were about to by the look of them.

Any comments welcome.

Seal on input shaft is a one way seal so allows water into drive when the bellows fails , strip drive , renew shaft seals and gearshift seal , input shaft seal , flush out all emuls oil Before your bearings fail .

 

[Portofino]

Seal on input shaft is a one way seal so allows water into drive when the bellows fails , strip drive , renew shaft seals and gearshift seal , input shaft seal , flush out all emuls oil Before your bearings fail .

You have answered my Q @post #4 .Thx .