Wrong saildrive oil. Should I worry?

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mezereon

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I drained and re-filled my saildrive while the boat is out of the water, but now I've checked the spec and discovered I got it all wrong! I've filled with semi-synthetic EP 75/90 while the manual specifies CD 15/40.
Its particularly painful because the gear oil costs a fortune.
Does anyone know if I can leave the gear oil in place, or should I drain it and fill with the 15/40? (I may have to suck it out through the filler, since we're back in the water tomorrow).
It seems to me that the gear oil should be fine since gears is what saildrives are filled with, but I've no idea how saildrive clutches work and a slippy clutch is not a good thing.
 
There's a big difference between those oils: I'd really recommend you change it to the correct one.

If the oil doesn't suit the application imagine how pleased you would be having to replace a wrecked saildrive (Inconvenience and cost). For the sake of a few pounds for the right oil and changing it tonight you can motor with confidence, and without that 'hot gear oil smell' that I've smelled in too many places.
 
Which saildrive is it?

I believe that some models have changed the recommendation from time to time which suggests that it might not be that critical and your model might not have the sort of clutch which would susceptible to the wrong oil anyway.

Either way, sucking out as much as you can and refilling with the correct grade, if you are back in the water, would be fine.

Richard
 
Change it. The gear oil is only required in the 120SE drive fitted to the higher horsepower engines. Ordinary engine oil in all the others.

Assume it is a Volvo drive.
 
mezereon said:
No it isn't. It's really thin. I believe the numbers mean something different for EP oils.
Click to expand...

The numbers for gear oils ( not specifically EP oils) are different because the higher number is measured at a different temperature.

A 75W- 90 gear oil is in fact about the same viscosity as a 10W- 40 engine oil. I am not going to suggest you leave it but I'd go along with Richard's suggestion to remove as much as possible and replace it with the correct oil if it is too late to drain it completely

You can ignore the W figure as it relates to the flow and pumpability characteristics at extremely low temperatures. The higher figures are therefore more relevant

If you compare the higher figures then 90 for a gear oil corresponds to 40 to 50 for an engine oil.

Your sail drive will not require the EP additives though but provided there are no "Yellow metal" components it should do no harm.
 
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Thanks very much to everyone who responded. This forum is great isn't it?
Looks like I have to break-out the Pela and get sucking.
Anyone in the market for half a bucketful of gear oil?
 
VicS said:
Your sail drive will not require the EP additives though but provided there are no "Yellow metal" components it should do no harm.
Click to expand...

Yellow metal components are fine in GL-4 EP gear oils, but not with GL-5. However, GL-4 is getting harder to find (I get mine at Wilkos) and I suspect that semi-synthetic oil, as per OP, will all be GL-5.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Yellow metal components are fine in GL-4 EP gear oils, but not with GL-5. However, GL-4 is getting harder to find (I get mine at Wilkos) and I suspect that semi-synthetic oil, as per OP, will all be GL-5.
Click to expand...

Don't think there is any yellow metal in a Volvo saildrive. As the OP found out, there is one version (120SE) that does use gear oil. This is different from the other variants of the 120 design in that it has a larger lower unit and different reduction and reverse box to suit the 50+ hp engines of the day (up to 2005). I have no idea why it requires a different oil, but the recommendation is consistent. Later, post 2005 130/150 drives initially used ATF but then all changed to engine oil around 2011 and retrospectively.
 
Tranona said:
Don't think there is any yellow metal in a Volvo saildrive. As the OP found out, there is one version (120SE) that does use gear oil. This is different from the other variants of the 120 design in that it has a larger lower unit and different reduction and reverse box to suit the 50+ hp engines of the day (up to 2005). I have no idea why it requires a different oil, but the recommendation is consistent. Later, post 2005 130/150 drives initially used ATF but then all changed to engine oil around 2011 and retrospectively.
Click to expand...

I'm always surprised they dont all use an EP gear oil. Like every outboard I can think of except traditional Seagulls and OMC electric shift gearboxes.
 
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