www.iFourWinns.com

Hey all,

Today I went down to my boat and noticed that there was some oil on my port outdrive. I pulled the plastic cover off the back of the drive. I am by no means a mechanic but I believe the oil is coming from a shifting mechanism of some kind. There is a metal rod connecting to a fitting that is part of a circular mount. There is not a lot of oil. How serious is this? Is it something that MUST be fixed before launching? This something a rookie can fix or do I need an authorized VP mechanic? Any guess on how much this is going to set me back?

Thanks.

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2001 - 328 Vista - Sans Sails

The oil you see at the under the plastic cover is likely spillage from the last time the gear oil was changed. There is a vent screw in that area that is removed to facilitate draining and filling the drive. When filling the drive with fresh oil from the bottom, you know it’s full when oil flows out of this vent.

Did you have the drive serviced in the fall? Perhaps the mechanic left a small mess of oil that flowed down the drive over time.

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2004 - 288 Vista
Twin - 5.0 Volvo Penta GXi DP

The VP DPS drive on my 02 268 had a leak in the shift mechanism where the shift cable connects to the drive. It turned out to be a bad seal on the shift mechanism. Not a difficult repair. I would verify that it is not a bad seal vs residual drive lube from a prior drain and fill.

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2008 V338
Twin Volvo Penta 320hp DP

2002 268 Vista
1987 225 Sundowner
1986 170 Horizon
1975 Steury V415SS

If the evidence of gear oil isnt from the last outdrive oil change, the o-ring seal on the gear shift assembly is super easy to replace, I did Both of my Volvo Penta outdrives last year myself.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

It was the gear shifter seal. I watched a video on how to change it and realized I didn’t have the tools to do it myself. I am just glad it did not happen after the boat was in the water. That would have been bad.

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2001 - 328 Vista - Sans Sails