Water in transmission fluuid

While i don't service saildrives i do service powerboat outdrives and its a really serious issue

There is set of gears in the area of the drive under water that make the 90 deg to turn the prop which means its full of water also and most likely has been for a long time


I would not use the boat at all

It will be a big job done in dry, with very possibly removed engine and Saildrive. If its recent, then you could just open clean and fix where water entered (mostly shaft seals). If its been a while, then chances are gears and other parts are corroded by now, and sometimes cheaper to replace the entire drive. Another killing factor use to be galvanic corrosion perforating the underwater case. Either way, its a serious problem and must be addressed quickly.

The Solution

The boat had a bad saildrive seal (shaft) that was replaced, the transmission fluid was drained, filled, drained again and re-filled.

Apparently the problem was detected on time and there were no mayor problems to the transmission.

La Bestia