TOPIC: 1964 650 lower unit oil dribble

Good evening, gents...

We've had some warmer weather here in Ontario, and this last weekend I noticed a couple of small drops of oily crap under the skeg of my 650. On examination, it seems to be coming from a small "weep?" hole in the leading cone of the gearcase, on the port side. It's put out enough to leave a trail down the leading edge of the skeg and dripped onto the ground. I've been testing the beast with cuffs on for ignition purposes, so I would expect some oily junk from the exhaust, where the prop meets the housing etc. but what is the purpose of this hole, and do I have anything to worry about?? Last spring I had a local marina do the impeller and re-seal everything, used it 4 times, winterized it and drained and changed the lower unit lube. I can't find anything in the Merc. factory manual about the hole.......please say it's nothing to worry about.....

Many thanks!

John

Nothin to worry about.

Check your lower unit oil...if its dark brown, your good to go. If its a frothy, tan-ish, milkshake looking concoction, youve got a leaking seal somewhere.

Thanks, Mr. JerrfyLube......

Don't worry, be happy...That'll be my new mantra....I plan on dropping the lower unit lube tomorrow night to see what flavour it is and whether or not i have to commit harri-kari..

Thanks very much!

John

Probably just exhaust residue coming out the weep hole drain, John. JL is right on with the lube check, and I'd also take a small wire and make sure those drain holes are open (there should be a couple of them). When running on muffs, you don't have the lake/river water to wash this away like you normally would, so it makes it more noticeable. Plus you're probably running at less RPM than normal while tuning, etc.. (If you've ever run a motor at idle in a test barrel/tank for 30 minutes it'll scare you about how much oil ends up in the tank.)

Good evening, Mark..

Thanks for the input on my weeping...I've dumped the lube and it looks just like the new stuff I just squoze back in. Hooray!!!! I also found a small stiffish piece of wire and made sure the holes are open (quite a scarey thought considering we get to -30or worse in the winter and if all the water didn't drain......aaaargh!!

Thanks so much once again to all...I really appreciate the help.

John