Saildrive oil change- how often?

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srah1953

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I understand that in modern diesel cars, the gearbox oil is seldom if ever changed. If there is no evidence of water in the saildrive oil (thru looking at dipstick - can one tell?), is it really necessary to change it regularly? Surely the factors that lead to the degradation of engine oil do not apply? The Yanmar manual says to change it every 6 months or 100 hours, whichever comes first. [It is not the cost of the oil. I have a Hanse 350 with a bulb keel, so it won't lie to a pier wall (falls backwards) and won't work with legs, so to change the oil requires a very expensive lift-out, probably, 10-15 times the cost of the oil!]

Alternatively, if it should be changed very regularly, should I get that done with the car?
 
Saildrive Oil Change - How Often?

I agree that 6 monthly or every 100 hours seems over the top. I followed this advice whilst my engine/saildrive was under warranty, but now it is not I have taken the (informal!) advice of 2 separate Yanmar engineers to check it regularly but if all seems well only change approx every 2 years. I think if you had a leaking oil seal you would see it as emulsified oil when you remove the dipstick.
 
dip stick hole is too small. and with the oil cap off with the bearings visible doesn't allow a very good breather.... I change mine every six month's, only because i get free oil !:D it's only about 2litres of oil...
 
rivonia said:
Interesting topic. How do you get the oil out?
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only when the boats out of the water.... drain plug on the bottom of the saildrive leg just in front of the prop... open dipstick and oil cap in the engine bay as a breather then unscrew the drain plug outside and drain into a bucket or lemonade bottle. i always find it takes and age to fill up again.
 
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Current Volvo saildrives use ATF and ask that it is changed every two years. As the fluid seems a lot less oily than 'oil' it would suggest that two years should be often enough for a leg with proper oil in it. I bet it comes out as clean as it goes in!
 
srah1953 said:
I understand that in modern diesel cars, the gearbox oil is seldom if ever changed. If there is no evidence of water in the saildrive oil (thru looking at dipstick - can one tell?), is it really necessary to change it regularly? Surely the factors that lead to the degradation of engine oil do not apply? The Yanmar manual says to change it every 6 months or 100 hours, whichever comes first. [It is not the cost of the oil. I have a Hanse 350 with a bulb keel, so it won't lie to a pier wall (falls backwards) and won't work with legs, so to change the oil requires a very expensive lift-out, probably, 10-15 times the cost of the oil!]

Alternatively, if it should be changed very regularly, should I get that done with the car?
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Speaking from the Volvo S 120 leg positon (!), 2 years works fine if there is no contamination - easy to spot from the dipstick. But as soon as any murkiness is seen in the oil, out it must come. In my case, this has only happened once and it was pretty obviously in trouble because a slick was trailing the boat from failed seals at the prop drive.

Fully or partial synthetic seems fine - I have used both and now decided to stay with a semi-synthetic to the appropriate grade. So goodbye Volvo synthetic oil at silly prices...

Engine hours are not so helpful in measuring how long the oil lasts because I'm a contrarian and run my prop freewheel quite a lot (what a slut!) I've got nearly 3k engine hours on the clock after 11 seasons, if that helps at all!

PWG
 
PeterGibbs said:
Speaking from the Volvo S 120 leg positon (!), 2 years works fine if there is no contamination - easy to spot from the dipstick. But as soon as any murkiness is seen in the oil, out it must come. In my case, this has only happened once and it was pretty obviously in trouble because a slick was trailing the boat from failed seals at the prop drive.

Fully or partial synthetic seems fine - I have used both and now decided to stay with a semi-synthetic to the appropriate grade. So goodbye Volvo synthetic oil at silly prices...

Engine hours are not so helpful in measuring how long the oil lasts because I'm a contrarian and run my prop freewheel quite a lot (what a slut!) I've got nearly 3k engine hours on the clock after 11 seasons, if that helps at all!

PWG
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Impressed that the clocks still working if its a Volvo..............
 
Little Grebe said:
Warning thread resurrection!

Just been reading the manual and wondering the same thing as the OP, do owners get their boats lifted every six months as re come or leave the oil change until when the boat comes out over the winter (or whenever)?
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In my opinion the manufacturers recommendations are rubbish and they are just playing it safe. Provided the oil is clean and their is no water emulsion present, it will be fine for years. My car puts 300bhp through its gearbox and differential and they are filled with ATF / Hypoid oil, the same as a saildrive, and the car drives are sealed for life!

Richard
 
RichardS said:
In my opinion the manufacturers recommendations are rubbish and they are just playing it safe. Provided the oil is clean and their is no water emulsion present, it will be fine for years. My car puts 300bhp through its gearbox and differential and they are filled with ATF / Hypoid oil, the same as a saildrive, and the car drives are sealed for life!

Richard
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I agree with this, best left alone but do inspect every few months. If you decide to do it, on the Yanmar SD20 the oil drain requires a flat blade driver to remove, it's worth finding the correct size of driver beforehand.
 
RichardS said:
In my opinion the manufacturers recommendations are rubbish and they are just playing it safe. Provided the oil is clean and their is no water emulsion present, it will be fine for years. My car puts 300bhp through its gearbox and differential and they are filled with ATF / Hypoid oil, the same as a saildrive, and the car drives are sealed for life!
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Worth noting that current Volvo saildrives use regular 15W-40 engine oil.
 
You can use a Pella pump or similar to empty the oil out of a Saildrive leg (at least you can on the Volvo). You need to hold your face just right to wiggle the pipe down to the bottom of the leg but it does work: removed just short of 2.4 litres out of a total of 2.6 last time I did a change.

Note that the oil used in the Volvo legs has changed to the same oil as the engine for all legs except the 120SE model, which needs 75W/90 gear oil.
 
pvb said:
Worth noting that current Volvo saildrives use regular 15W-40 engine oil.
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Originally my Volvo manual said 15W 40. however, following a problem with water in the oil i was speaking to Volspec & they said volvo now spec'd ATF & that i should change the oil. I must admit i have not done so as 15W 40 is more convenient as it is the same as the engine & after 3000 hours all seems Ok. Apparently the problem comes with the cintered clutch plates & incorrect lubrication will damage them
 
Just for information
I drained the oil as i do every season & noticed the washer was worn so i replaced it with a new copper washer.
On my round Uk trip i got to le Havre & noticed oil in the water. I drained 50% oil with a suction pump & sailed to Cherbourg to get Volvo dealer to look at it.
Without going into the full story about the muppets in France I finally had the boat lifted. i drained the oil, fitted a rubber washer taken from my heads pump & problem was solved.
I had expected seal failure which I had 2 years earlier but fortunately a comment by an engineer at Volspec put me on the correct track
The moral of the story being- use the correct washer & change it every oil change
 
Daydream believer said:
Originally my Volvo manual said 15W 40. however, following a problem with water in the oil i was speaking to Volspec & they said volvo now spec'd ATF & that i should change the oil. I must admit i have not done so as 15W 40 is more convenient as it is the same as the engine & after 3000 hours all seems Ok. Apparently the problem comes with the cintered clutch plates & incorrect lubrication will damage them
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Are you sure you don't have that the wrong way round?
ATF was specified for the more recent sail drives (130S and 150S) but VP issued a service bulletin in October 2010 changing this to 15W40.
This can be found at www.marinepartsexpress.com/saildriveoilchange.pdf

Or are you suggesting that they have withdrawn that and are now specifying ATF again?
 
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My Yanmar saildrives specifies the use of Quicksilver snake oil. It costs an eye watering £20 a litre but last year I bought 10 litres for a more modest /litre sum.

Yanmars have a reputation for failing cone clutches (among several other issues that really should have been sorted) so, imho, it's not worth taking the risk with oil non-approved types and/or change frequency.

For the majority of UK sailors, 6 months is one season and it's a very simple job with the boat in its cradle.
 
VicS said:
Are you sure you don't have that the wrong way round?
ATF was specified for the more recent sail drives (130S and 150S) but VP issued a service bulletin in October 2010 changing this to 15W40.
This can be found at www.marinepartsexpress.com/saildriveoilchange.pdf

Or are you suggesting that they have withdrawn that and are now specifying ATF again?
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I am only going by Volspec's advice & they are a reputable dealer.
they say Volvo now specify ATF
however, as I said I am sticking with the original 15W40 for convenience
 
As VicS says, this is the reverse of Volvo's advice as of about year ago. For instance, the 120S range of legs all specified engine oil, except for the 120SE which used ATF; Volvo said recently that even this one could now use engine oil.
Perhaps someone should call Volspec and query their advice.
 
davidjackson said:
My Yanmar saildrives specifies the use of Quicksilver snake oil. It costs an eye watering £20 a litre but last year I bought 10 litres for a more modest /litre sum.

Yanmars have a reputation for failing cone clutches (among several other issues that really should have been sorted) so, imho, it's not worth taking the risk with oil non-approved types and/or change frequency.

For the majority of UK sailors, 6 months is one season and it's a very simple job with the boat in its cradle.
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Suppose I can take some comfort that the smaller sail drive legs have a dog clutch rather than the cone version!

Agreed its an easy job once the boat is in the cradle but I wonder just how many boats were held in the slings long enough to change the oil when their first 50 hours were up?
 
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