Water in the sail drive oil!

Sans Bateau

Sans Bateau

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 Jan 2004
Messages
18,956
Visit site
Dipped the oil in the saildrive this weekend, to be faced with the tell tale milky look of water in the oil. Damn! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

So, guys tell me, how long can I leave it before I have to change the oil and oil seal?

My sailing plans are to sail all winter then have the boat lifted out for a few days next June when the 'summer specials' return. Can I wait until then or am I going to damage the gearbox/saildrive?
 
I only know one person who used his volvo leg with a damaged seal and the renovation was going to cost him £2000 but I think the final bill was nearer £3000. He caught his own chain round his prop. Kept changing the oil every port but did not save his leg from expensive work. I don't know how long he ran it after the accident before he took action.
 
don't leave it as long as you indicate it will get costly, when i found the same prob with one of mine didn't hesitate & thankfull. Stich in time saves nine! you know it will not get better do it now & enjoy the next months sailing
good luck
 
Having personal experience of this with a previous boat, I would agree with feedback you've already received and say, sooner the better! Total pain and I hope you get it fixed soon and without too much of a dent on your pocket.
 
From my experience with 2 boats with saildrives the problem has been the gasket on the drain plug. If you are getting a lot of water into the saildrive it will foam out and need attention sooner rather than later. If however the oil is only milky then in my opinion you can sail reasonably as normal. Anyway the first thing you should do is to replace the saildrive oil (newer boats have dip stick access) if not dry out drain and check drain plug and replace gasket (older boats have fibre gasket which is a use once only as it compresses as it seals and when reused has no compression left and is the main cause of milky oil ). New type have rubber "o" ring which should also be replaced every time as it can be easily cut if not centered properly. A little teflon tape on the thread is also a good idea.
My experience is as previous owner of 3 Etaps so hope your problem is similar!!
 
I had water in the leg oil a few years ago and in my case new prop shaft seals fixed it. Fortunately, I wanted to take the prop shaft out anyway that year to make lifting the leg easier. (Big seal change time.) I can't really add much to the diverging views on whether action should be taken soon or you could chance leaving it. I know what I would do, but then again I've already got my winter lift out booked! If OTOH I had discovered this situation just before setting off on the annual summer cruise then I'm not sure which way I would jump. The idea of changing the oil via the dipstick hole is interesting. I've never tried that and don't know if it would work. Can't hurt to stick the sucker pipe in and see how far down it goes! I think I'll try that for future reference.
 
We remove our engine oil via the dipstick hole - I woud've thought it'd work the same way for a saildrive leg - not ideal as you can't locate the problem or fix it - but it will mean you can get fresh oil in there - probably worth a change and keep an eye on it.
 
For my engine oil I've no choice but to use the dipstick hole - there's no sump plug!

The leg oil just pours out from the bottom. Using the dip stick hole might well work, but I've never tried it. While I've no reason to think that there will be an obstruction stopping the suction pipe getting to the bottom of the leg, who knows what went through Mr. Volvo's mind when he designed the thing? I think the only answer is to (a) see how far down the pipe will go, then (b) suck and see whether the quantity produced agrees with the capacity quoted in the manual.

If it does work OK then it might even be worth doing it this way for the annual change (or "look and put back", but that's a different debate!) It would certainly convert an outdoor job that involves trying to catch a stream of oil getting blown about in the wind into an inside job with the oil all contained and under control. Food for thought!
 
with my volvo saildrive I tried to change the oil via the dipstick (Before I knew about the drain screw). I only got a small amount out in comparision to when I drained it fully.
 
Sorry guys but its NOT posible to suck the oil out of the dipstick tube on the older sail drives, you will only get as far as the bottom of the upper gearbox as there are various flanges between the upper and lower sections, the only way is to drain it. The latest drives have a tube which goes right to the bottom of the leg so you can do it this way, but it is very recent.
As regards leaving the water in the drive, if you don't use the boat for some time hte oil/water mix can seperate out which means your prop shaft, gears and bearings in the lower section are swimming in mostly saltwater, its cheaper to lift the boat and replace the propshaft seals, and drain plug gasket IMHO.
 
What is involved in changing the propshaft seals? Whilst I'm very grateful for the comments already made, its good to hear from a marine engineer.
 
lift boat ,remove oil drain plug, drain oil into bucket.remove prop ,anode and take out two bolts holding lower shaft and casting in place.oil should have finished draining by now.Pull of lower shaft (there will propobally be another rush of oil at this point) remove two 'o'rings from casting and replace with new. bolt casting back on ,carefully ,re-attach anode and prop. replace drain plug (i always put locktight here and on prop fixing allen key bolt).boat can now go back in water ,fill gearbox and leg with oil (this can be slow business). Boat will be out of water for one hour.
 
Don't give up your day job, you'd never make it as a marine engineer. What about the propshaft seals, they need replacing as they are the cause of the water ingress not the 'O' rings.

In addition you need to remove the prop shaft from the bearing carrier and replace the two seals in the carrier, note has the lips facing outwards to keep water out and one facing inwards to keep the oil in, grease them well with waterproof grease and reassemble.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top