i was at the lake fishing yesterday, unloaded the boat and ran it for about 5 minutes to the spot i wanted to start at. fished there for about 30-45 minutes and decided to move and when i turned back to start the motor i noticed i had gear oil around the clutch cover. i took the clutch cover off and there gear oil all around the clutch..

cleaned it off and ran it the rest of day while continueing to monitor it and never happened again....

any suggestions???

also,rev limiter took a crap last week so i unhooked it. when i was running to my first spot i bumped 4500 one time for like 10 seconds and then quickly trimmed down... dont know if that would cause it, but it didnt see 4300 the rest of the day...

You sure it was gear oil and not motor oil? I would think it would be hard for gear oil to walk up the spline adapter especially on a tall transom motor. I also think you have the newer style lower unit which has grease in the top. I just don't see how any gear oil could work itself all the way up there.

Look at it again and see if the oil may be coming from above and not below. Check your block out really good make sure you don't have a crankcase leak, or a small crack in the block. Try to check right in the bottom of the block where the crank comes out and goes in to the clutch. Kinda sounds like the lower seal on your motor is leaking to me.

If you have a bad seal it can get up there. You sure its gear oil? If so drain your LU and see if you got water in it. Always check your LU after it has set up for a day or so too. When running the oil gets full of bubbles and will look kinda milky or lighter in color.

A bad bottom seal will allow water to push oil (in a milky way) through a tattle tail hole under clutch.

You are getting water in the lower unit I had that problem a couple times when I was running the prodrives!Mine was the top seal both times!

There is a plug in the top that has a hole drilled in it for a vent. This is the same thing that J is talking about. You have bad seals.

im 100% sure its gear oil... i just changed it a couple of weeks ago. the block was the first thing i thought of till i smelled it. i guess ill call kp tomorrw and get the seal. how hard is it to replace?

Buy a new nut with the seals in it.

Then , you have to pull the prop, take the old nut off, and then put the new one. Add gear oil, then you ready to go..

do you think i need go ahead and replace the seal where the lower unit meets the tower? and maybe the teflon ring?

Had the same problem.I changed the lower shaft seals with nut. No problems after that.

The lower is simple so start there. Thats where you are getting water in. No need to worry about the upper at this point IMO.

ok good deal. ordered it from kp today and he said hes gonna cover it me... thanks alot for the input guys. helps me alot!!