"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
. ..
Thanks for all of the great info. I'm still greatly dissapointed.
As many of you recall, this 2005 Bayliner 175 is my first
real boat (that I bought brand new jast June), and now I
got this gear oil consumption problem. I've recently called
the dealer about it too. Did some more tests, and find that
it uses about 2 Oz of oil for every 1-hour of running.

So, the question is, where is the most probable place
for the leak? Prop seal, driveshaft seal, or water pump?

And what could of done this? dealer dude (on phone)
doesn't seem to think that engine alignment would do it.
Would running it at excessive speed do it? Not too
long ago, I was running it at WOT for really long
periods of time - could that have done it?

I've only had the thing out 4 times this year since
winter - could something have happened over
winter? (Seattle area). I did scrape the fin on
drive way, but I consider that pretty minor.

How rare is it to develop gear lube consumption
problems on a 1-year old Alpha-1 I wonder?

And are replacing seals somehting that I can do?
(very mechaincally inclined). Issue is that dealer
says they won't be able to get me in till late Aug.
I was thinking that if its a prop seal, that maybe
I can just replace it. Also, whats involved with
changing the oil seal on the upper half? and the
shift lever? So what, 4 places the lube can leak
from, right? prop deal, upper drive shaft seal,
shift lever, and water pump area?

Thanks!

Momentary spurts of wide open throttle are ok once in a great while. Long
periods of WOT running is abusive. If it weren't for the protection of your
gear lube resevoir, your stern drive would probably be trash by now.

In order to find your leak, you need to remove the stern drive and split it.
Remove the prop and water pump upper body. Plug the small holes that
transfer oil between halves, and do a pressure test. You will see the leak.
If it's the water pump base seals that are bad you won't need any special
tools. Otherwise start reaching in your pocket for those crisp hundreds. If
you're a decent mechanic, you can sit down with a genuine OEM manual and
teach yourself how to repair or rebuild a stern drive.

While the drive is split, it would be foolish not to replace the upper water
pump body kit.

If you are the fellow that was having the thermostat stuck with sand, that
might be part of your problem. The grit gets imbedded in the neoprene seals
and wears away at the stainless steel shafts. Pretty impressive the first
time you see it.

Let us know what you find.

Good luck Dude,
Jim