Gearbox filling solution

**blueskip** · 21-02-2006, 15:28

After being b*******d on many occassions by "er indoors" for leaving oily patches on the drive, I think I have cracked the problem of filling the outboard gearbox, without lubricating the entire street!
Take an empty mastic tube (if you use an old Decorators Caulk one, you can wash it out with hot water, cos its water soluble), push the plastic plunger back out through the top, screw on a NEW nozzle that you haven't cut back halfway down its length, push a nail into the end to stop it dripping! & fill with gearbox oil.
Push the plastic plunger back into the barrel, & put the tube into a mastic gun, but dont squeeze the trigger until the last minute. Undo the level plug, undo the drain plug, take the nail out of the end of the nozzle & insert the nozzle into the oil drain hole, lo & behold the taper will fit perfectly & no oil will come out, squeeze the trigger gently "Eh Voila" out of the level plug hole comes your oil, perfectly under control.
I just completed this operation on my 50Merc (which is a pig, because the fill hole is almost vertical) without losing a drop! Now I know I can avoid countless tongue lashings, & save myself a fortune on gearbox oil, 75% of which used to go up my arm before it dripped on the drive!
blueskip

**sabretooth** · 21-02-2006, 15:47

whats the best way to check the level with a boat on the mooring
dave

**blueskip** · 21-02-2006, 16:22

Deep breaths, or better still, take the boat to Oxwich between 27th Feb & 4th March, beach it 1.5hrs before low water, check your oil, then collect razorfish for a couple of hours before you refloat & head home with a gearbox full of oil, & a bucket full of razors!
blueskip

**MarieK** · 21-02-2006, 18:15

The bit find difficult is putting the bung back in the hole without it all coming out - also u can buy a quicksilver (mercury) pump which fits on top of the bottle of gearbox oil for about 8 quid it has same threads as bung so u dont have to hold it on.

http://www.seamarknunn.co.uk/catalog/items/item4467.htm

Ryan

**Rajabatis** · 22-01-2007, 22:13

Originally Posted by MarieK

The bit find difficult is putting the bung back in the hole without it all coming out - also u can buy a quicksilver (mercury) pump which fits on top of the bottle of gearbox oil for about 8 quid it has same threads as bung so u dont have to hold it on.

http://www.seamarknunn.co.uk/catalog/items/item4467.htm

Ryan

Good cheap solution from blueskip. Oil coming back out? Put the top screw back in first with filler still in or your finger over the bottom one. Then screw in the bottom one. The oil will only drip out a little this way

**wilson17** · 22-01-2007, 22:20

Or better still change your troublesome 4 stroke for a nice modern economical clean burn 2 stroke - problem solved

**ChrisP** · 22-01-2007, 22:41

Originally Posted by wilson17

Or better still change your troublesome 4 stroke for a nice modern economical clean burn 2 stroke - problem solved

How? They both have the same gearbox fill arrangement

**alana** · 22-01-2007, 22:56

Originally Posted by MarieK

The bit find difficult is putting the bung back in the hole without it all coming out - also u can buy a quicksilver (mercury) pump which fits on top of the bottle of gearbox oil for about 8 quid it has same threads as bung so u dont have to hold it on.

http://www.seamarknunn.co.uk/catalog/items/item4467.htm

Ryan

if you put the top level screw back in first it will slow down the oil draining out

**alana** · 22-01-2007, 23:07

Originally Posted by sabretooth

whats the best way to check the level with a boat on the mooring
dave

you cant the motor has to be down, you might check for water in oil by undoing the drain a few turns, and then doing what i did, loosing the screw into the sea. its bloody hard to transfer the level screw to the drain hole with one finger keeping the oil in the gearbox. now i beach the boat and dig a hole under the motor