Newbie Lubricating Outdrive
 

I want to Lube my outdrive and change the outdrive oil. The Clymer
manual says to open the oil vent plug and oil filler and replace the
gaskets/washers...before I do this are these standard thigns I can
find at home depot...or west marine. The manual does not list part
numbers so how do I know what I need to purchase as a replacement
gasket and what size. In addition a maintenance table in the manual
referss to type f transmission fluid and dexron transmission fluid but
list the application of these 2 products as power steering
reservoir....can anyone make sense of this to a newbie ,,,the outdrive
is an MC1 attached to a chevy 898.

Thanks

Newbie Lubricating Outdrive
 

The gaskets for the lube plugs can be purchased at West, Boater's World,
etc. They will be on a blister card in the section with lubricants and
filters. Make sure you get the ones for Mercruiser.

Automatic transmission fluid, either Type F of Dexron, is the recommended
fluid for use in the power steering system.

Glenn wrote:

I want to Lube my outdrive and change the outdrive oil. The Clymer
manual says to open the oil vent plug and oil filler and replace the
gaskets/washers...before I do this are these standard thigns I can
find at home depot...or west marine. The manual does not list part
numbers so how do I know what I need to purchase as a replacement
gasket and what size. In addition a maintenance table in the manual
referss to type f transmission fluid and dexron transmission fluid but
list the application of these 2 products as power steering
reservoir....can anyone make sense of this to a newbie ,,,the outdrive
is an MC1 attached to a chevy 898.

Thanks

Newbie Lubricating Outdrive
 

Jim,

thanks for answering what was probably a stupid question.


Jim Kelly wrote in message ...
The gaskets for the lube plugs can be purchased at West, Boater's World,
etc. They will be on a blister card in the section with lubricants and
filters. Make sure you get the ones for Mercruiser.

Automatic transmission fluid, either Type F of Dexron, is the recommended
fluid for use in the power steering system.

Glenn wrote:

I want to Lube my outdrive and change the outdrive oil. The Clymer
manual says to open the oil vent plug and oil filler and replace the
gaskets/washers...before I do this are these standard thigns I can
find at home depot...or west marine. The manual does not list part
numbers so how do I know what I need to purchase as a replacement
gasket and what size. In addition a maintenance table in the manual
referss to type f transmission fluid and dexron transmission fluid but
list the application of these 2 products as power steering
reservoir....can anyone make sense of this to a newbie ,,,the outdrive
is an MC1 attached to a chevy 898.

Thanks

Newbie Lubricating Outdrive
 

Jim Kelly wrote in message
...
The gaskets for the lube plugs can be purchased at West, Boater's World,
etc. They will be on a blister card in the section with lubricants and
filters. Make sure you get the ones for Mercruiser.

"Glenn" wrote in
Jim,

thanks for answering what was probably a stupid question.

Glenn, A short comment, then a long ramble on gaskets, washers and O rings
8-)

Short comment: I advise you to follow his advice if it's easy (I would/
will, but see below). But, hardware store O rings might also work, common
hardware store rubber washers don't.

Long ramble: This is definitely not a supid question. I went through the
same thing myself recently. I've been tinkering with and re-habbing an
oooooold motor that I inherited a couple of seasons ago.. I use it very
little and infrequently, but I 'd been noticing that a little moisture was
getting into the lower unit. I was worried about prop shaft seals, etc. but
it wasn't a lot of moisture and common sense would say that if one changes
the oil frequently, especially for storage, that a little moisture wouldn't
be a killer.

I then noticed that neither the fill screw nor the vent screw had any gasket
or washer of any kind. Neither had washers when I inherited the thing, and
being slow mentally, it just didn't register. Finally, I had the brilliant
thought that they should.

However, brilliance sometimes has limits. I didn't even think to go to the
boat shop because I just figured that a normal rubber/neoprene flat washer
from the hardware store would do the trick. Actually, they don't - at
least the ones I got. They got squeezed and distorted and don't seal when
the screws are tightened.

So I then tried regular old "O" rings from the hardware store - they seem to
be working great. My favorite hardware store has a selection of 1,000
different O rings from tiny to huge. I brought the screws in when I went
shopping. I now have it full of fluid and probably won't empty it (and thus
have the screws to take with me to the boat shop) until next season, if
ever. I might take a look- see at the boat shop to see if it's obvious the
designated gasket/washers are obviously better than common variety O rings.

HTH,
Cam



Automatic transmission fluid, either Type F of Dexron, is the
recommended
fluid for use in the power steering system.

Glenn wrote:

I want to Lube my outdrive and change the outdrive oil. The Clymer
manual says to open the oil vent plug and oil filler and replace the
gaskets/washers...before I do this are these standard thigns I can
find at home depot...or west marine. The manual does not list part
numbers so how do I know what I need to purchase as a replacement
gasket and what size. In addition a maintenance table in the manual
referss to type f transmission fluid and dexron transmission fluid but
list the application of these 2 products as power steering
reservoir....can anyone make sense of this to a newbie ,,,the outdrive
is an MC1 attached to a chevy 898.

Thanks

Newbie Lubricating Outdrive
 

The only stupid questions are the ones that are not asked.

Glenn wrote:

Jim,

thanks for answering what was probably a stupid question.

Jim Kelly wrote in message ...
The gaskets for the lube plugs can be purchased at West, Boater's World,
etc. They will be on a blister card in the section with lubricants and
filters. Make sure you get the ones for Mercruiser.

Automatic transmission fluid, either Type F of Dexron, is the recommended
fluid for use in the power steering system.

Glenn wrote:

I want to Lube my outdrive and change the outdrive oil. The Clymer
manual says to open the oil vent plug and oil filler and replace the
gaskets/washers...before I do this are these standard thigns I can
find at home depot...or west marine. The manual does not list part
numbers so how do I know what I need to purchase as a replacement
gasket and what size. In addition a maintenance table in the manual
referss to type f transmission fluid and dexron transmission fluid but
list the application of these 2 products as power steering
reservoir....can anyone make sense of this to a newbie ,,,the outdrive
is an MC1 attached to a chevy 898.

Thanks

Newbie Lubricating Outdrive
 

There is nothing special about the o-rings used on outboards and stern drives.
As long as the correct size is obtained, there is nothing wrong with obtaining
them from hardware stores. The only thing to watch out for is that some
manufacturers have, over the years, used sealing washers rather than o-rings.
These washers and o-rings are not interchangeable. The machining of the chamfer
on the tapped hole and on the underside of the plug are different for an o-ring
versus a sealing washer.

Camilo wrote:

Jim Kelly wrote in message
...
The gaskets for the lube plugs can be purchased at West, Boater's World,
etc. They will be on a blister card in the section with lubricants and
filters. Make sure you get the ones for Mercruiser.

"Glenn" wrote in
Jim,

thanks for answering what was probably a stupid question.

Glenn, A short comment, then a long ramble on gaskets, washers and O rings
8-)

Short comment: I advise you to follow his advice if it's easy (I would/
will, but see below). But, hardware store O rings might also work, common
hardware store rubber washers don't.

Long ramble: This is definitely not a supid question. I went through the
same thing myself recently. I've been tinkering with and re-habbing an
oooooold motor that I inherited a couple of seasons ago.. I use it very
little and infrequently, but I 'd been noticing that a little moisture was
getting into the lower unit. I was worried about prop shaft seals, etc. but
it wasn't a lot of moisture and common sense would say that if one changes
the oil frequently, especially for storage, that a little moisture wouldn't
be a killer.

I then noticed that neither the fill screw nor the vent screw had any gasket
or washer of any kind. Neither had washers when I inherited the thing, and
being slow mentally, it just didn't register. Finally, I had the brilliant
thought that they should.

However, brilliance sometimes has limits. I didn't even think to go to the
boat shop because I just figured that a normal rubber/neoprene flat washer
from the hardware store would do the trick. Actually, they don't - at
least the ones I got. They got squeezed and distorted and don't seal when
the screws are tightened.

So I then tried regular old "O" rings from the hardware store - they seem to
be working great. My favorite hardware store has a selection of 1,000
different O rings from tiny to huge. I brought the screws in when I went
shopping. I now have it full of fluid and probably won't empty it (and thus
have the screws to take with me to the boat shop) until next season, if
ever. I might take a look- see at the boat shop to see if it's obvious the
designated gasket/washers are obviously better than common variety O rings.

HTH,
Cam


Automatic transmission fluid, either Type F of Dexron, is the
recommended
fluid for use in the power steering system.

Glenn wrote:

I want to Lube my outdrive and change the outdrive oil. The Clymer
manual says to open the oil vent plug and oil filler and replace the
gaskets/washers...before I do this are these standard thigns I can
find at home depot...or west marine. The manual does not list part
numbers so how do I know what I need to purchase as a replacement
gasket and what size. In addition a maintenance table in the manual
referss to type f transmission fluid and dexron transmission fluid but
list the application of these 2 products as power steering
reservoir....can anyone make sense of this to a newbie ,,,the outdrive
is an MC1 attached to a chevy 898.

Thanks