Gear Oil

[Smeghead]

hey guys im back with another newb question
As you may remember I have a 18ft deck boat with a 135hp 3.0 liter Mercruiser engine with an Alpha one outdrive, similar to this:

My question is, im about to change the gear oil in the outdrive, and watching a video on how to do it, the guy first empties the little reservoir attached to the engine itself before working on the outdrive.
Well mine doesnt have that little box that you can see in the pic above.
Does mine just not have one? Is that not wierd?

Should I just change the oil ignoring that part, I mean seriously theres no little box like that anywhere, except next to the trim control motor, but thats full of poop colored stuff that i assume is hydraulic fluid?

heres a bad pic of the actual engine, no little box with gear oil in it to be seen - ?

Heres some more pics of the type of engine I have:
http://www.sportfishermen.com/board...ine-mercruiser-4-cylinder-engine-1243560.html

 

[lovezoo]

The little box is the remote gear lube monitor, and not all drives have them. Just take the drain plug out (at the bottom of the drive), then the vent plug at the top and the oil will drain. Refill from the bottom plug. Replace the plug washers before you put the plugs back in.

 

[rafiki_]

I had a Sea Ray with the same powertrain as yours, and we had no reservoir for the gear oil. Rafiki has 2 Alfa drives, and they both have the reservoir, which really only gives you confidence that the oil has not suffered from water ingress. As the leg is filled from the bottom, the reservoir is not something you need to consider with the oil change, so I would carry on if I were you.

 

[lovezoo]

The advantage of having the gear lube monitor, is that you can instantly check, just by opening the engine hatch, if your drive oil is low. There is no easy way to do this without the monitor. And if the oil is low you can easily top it up.

 

[Smeghead]

Thanks guys

So i'll just fill it up till it comes out of the vent hole, then 'a little bit' more I suppose

Another Q about the tilt pump. It kinda looks like this

but the reservoir is full of this cappucino, sort of light copper colored liquid that has a slight tackiness to it, almost 'mercury-like'. Is that normal hydraulic fluid? I thought it was purple or something

 

[lovezoo]

You can use hydraulic fluid or just normal engine oil in the tilt/trim reservoir. Best bet is to get the Mercruiser owners manual for your engine. That has all the info on oils to use and basic servicing.