Unable to fill the lower unit with gear lube on my 3.3 Mercury Tohatsu, Evinrude

[ejlindahl]

eherlihy,

When you say you used a drill did you mean a drill bit chucked in a drill motor? Ie trying to drill a hole in the obstruction? Thats gutsy. as I'd be afraid of damaging something in there. It is a seal after all that keeps the oil in and saltwater out. I suspect that you got no chips of metal as I believe (as written upthread) that the vent hole is obstructed by the stainless steel outer carrier of the driveshaft bearing. If you've seen a bearing on a car or trailer wheel you know what I mean.

I believe that the bearing was not put in the right place on the drive shaft, ie; too high or too low so that it obstructs the vent hole. Alternatively I am beginning to think that the bearing may have been put in correctly upon manufacture but over time it has slipped down (or up) the shaft a fraction of an inch so that it now obstructs the vent hole. I am thinking this because there are some comments upthread by those who've owned the motor since new. They said they initially had no problem filling the lower leg with oil the normal way, (fill from the bottom hole til it leaks out the top "vent" hole). Then they say that they no longer can do this and have reported the same problem that caused me to start this thread. My work around described above (and yours) should work fine. It has so far!