05 225 Pro XS with sportsmaster leaking gear lube

[dkb0420xd]

Howdy folks , gear lube leaking from top ( front ) vent hole looks like to me at connection between lower unit and mid section , does this sound like water pushing the lube out, seal gone bad between lower unit and mid, any input will be very much appreciated ? How hard of fix is this ? Expensive ?

Kent <")))><

[rangerguy]

The lower units on your year Pro XS was bad about pushing the drive shaft seal out. It is located below your water pump. Mercury came out with a fix for it. Something about drilling and putting some bolts or clamp around the seal. Any dealer should be able to fix it, and show you what needs to be done. Don't run it until you get it fixed.

[Bass Commander]

The Sportmaster takes only about 24 ozs. You might have too much lube and its expanding from the heat (stored outside?)

[dkb0420xd]

Stored in climate controlled garage but the heat in Bhm, AL has been extremely high during the day when I've noticed it leaking , I still have warranty on my motor til May 2010 so hopefully my marine dealer down here will figure it out if it's the drive shaft seal are what the issue is, wanted to know what expense so for future ref, Thanks for all replies folks

Kent <")))><

[fastglass1]

These lower units are real sensitive to the amount of oil you put in them. If it says 24 oz in the owners manual concider 24 as a max. 23 is way better than 25.

During running they heat up and build pressure inthe LU. The shift shaft seal is the weak link and will get push out (which lets water in).

Get it to your dealer and they should be able to replace the seal in just a couple of hours (that is how long it took me and I did not know what I was doing).

[EuropeanAM]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fastglass1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">These lower units are real sensitive to the amount of oil you put in them. If it says 24 oz in the owners manual concider 24 as a max. 23 is way better than 25.

During running they heat up and build pressure inthe LU. The shift shaft seal is the weak link and will get push out (which lets water in).

Get it to your dealer and they should be able to replace the seal in just a couple of hours (that is how long it took me and I did not know what I was doing).

</TD></TR></TABLE>

+1

[firekracker50]

Had exactly the same issue, oil in same place... it was shift shaft seal. When pressure tested the drive shaft seal got a little bubble as well so they replaced them too. it took like 3 days to get it back but it was only an hours worth of labor charge plus parts. THey were really busy at the time i took mine in.

[EuropeanAM]

Any time a leak is noted at the shift-shaft seal, AND/OR the Driveshaft Seal....

CHECK THE PROPSHAFT SEALS- ESPECIALLY THE INNER SEAL.

I see about 1 in 2 of these have been "knifed" during assembly.

Easy to prevent- simply wrap one round of wide "masking tape" around the propshaft splines.... grease well with 2-4-C grease.

Failure to catch the damaged inner propshaft seal will result in "repeat seal failures" at the shift shaft or driveshaft seals.