is this normal?????

[Jedburton]

I am dewinterizing my boat and changing the oil in the engine and outdrive,but when I drained the oil in the outdrive it was cloudy and i can't remember if it was this way last year. this is from a volvo 290 outdrive and the oil is standard 10/30 wt oil ( the owners manual says to use either that or I believe it was 10/40 or something like that). any help would be greatly appreciated,
jed
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[utfishguy31]

I have a simalar outdrive (penta volvo).I changed my outdrive oil 2 seasons ago and it looked like that.So It looks normal,or at least what mine looked like.I don't know when the previouse owner changed it last so if it hasn't been changed in a while it could look like that.
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[CROSSINEYES]

i had one of those outdrives. it looked that way every spring. i drained and filled new every yr. its cheaper than rebuilding.
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[JAB2208]

Just changed the oil in mine last weekend and it looked the same way. I used a hi viscosity oil (picked it up from adventure motorsports for 6.79/qt). It required 2 qts and a special pump. Very easy to do. Hope this helps.
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[kokeking]

I have a o/b only,but I would think that the lower units are very similar .Personally to me it looks like there is water in the oil.That is what causes the milky color,or at least in a o/b it will cause the oil to take on that color.Replace all the o-rings(cheap fix sometimes) on both the drain and fill plugs,before you refill the lower unit.

If it was me I would drain a little oil out of the lower unit after your next time on the water If water is entering the lower unit,it wont be long before a big repair will be needed.
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[nkunz]

Yes, its water in the oil. It is better to change the oil in the fall, espiacally if you store the boat where it can freeze. The water can destroy the seals in the winter. I got a $1500 lesson on when to change the oil.
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[Saberfish]

[black][size 3]It looks to me like there is water in the oil, but not from seal leak, just condensation. This builds up during the heating/cooling processes that the outdrive goes thru during running conditions, and changes in weather temperatures during the year. I think what you have is a normal condition.[/size][/black]
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[size 3]However, it's a good idea, as stated above to watch the condition, and keep the oil in that lower drive changed. It can be a costly lesson if there is enough moisture in that lower unit and it go thru a freeze during the winter.[/size]
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[JoyRide]

You are definitely getting water in your outdrive. I had that problem two years ago. I went through every possible orifice resealing one at a time in the thing before I was able to maintain good clean oil all year. Your oil may look darker but should not have water in it. You are losing lubrication and heading for a failure if you can't find the leak that's letting in the water.
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[JoyRide]

My previous post was probably a little alarmist. Water can get into the outdrive through condensation when sitting for a period of time, but I've never seen it that bad and I have three boats.
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[MACMAN]

I had the same look to my o/d oil, and thanks to the folks at Robertsons I found out that I actually caused it when I changed it the previous time. So here is what they told me, when you change the oil there is a little orange washer on both plugs, this is a crush washer and should be only tightened one time then replaced- they are cheap, but it made sense to me and no probs now... I have a Yamaha 90 ob.
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