Water leaking into boat and water in gear oil.

[kcbarr]

Recently I noticed a lot of water leaking into my boat (5.7L Mercruiser with Alpha one out drive). The water also contained a lot of what appeared to be gear oil. It was leaking enough that you could hear it running into the boat from what appeared to be the upper part of the gimbal ring. When I took the boat out of the water and checked the gear oil in the out drive it was very milky and contained a lot of water (the oil that was left was like a foamy emusion). Question - How would the water get into the gear oil and what would cause the water / oil mixture to then leak into the boat?

[Technical Support]

Most likely the U-joint bellows has a hole in it. That will force water into the drive which will cause oil to leak out. It will also cause water and oil to get into the boat. You will need to pull the drive and inspect the bellows.

Tech Support