Water in PowerPlus V Drive

[Pinball]

2008 Nautique 210 Team Edition.

V-Drive long overdue for an oil change out, what I found upon opening it up was whitish goo.
Pumped out as best possible. Filled it with ATF fluid due to high detergent content as a flush.
Idle around lake in gear for 5 min. Pump out with still a great deal of whitish fluid. Filled with mineral spirits.
Let sit. Pump out. Still not looking good. Filled with 20-50 motor oil. Idle around for 5 minute.
Pump out. Milkshake. Filled with Mobil Syn 50 Wt, had an adult beverage and passed out in the chair.

Anyone know abought these units?

[Pinball]

I'm going to try going to church more and not kicking the cat .....as much

[nukemustang]

okay, we are talking the v-drive unit or the transmission? If it is the transmission fluid that is discolored, the most common cause (looking through allllll the major inboard forums) seems to be an issue with water getting into the unit via the transmission oil cooler. If it is the V-drive... I am not sure, I don't think the v's have a cooler attached to them and depending on the year it should have been filled with SHC 50, which is yellow... not red like ATF.

[Pinball]

Thanks for your reply. Indeed we are talking about the V drive. It a PCM Power plus unit.
There is a freshwater circuit thru it with a cooler inside although I do not know the specifics of it.
I have found one diagram that shows a fresh water drain plug at the bottom of the unit also.
What I had coming out of it was not oil but definetly oil milkshake.
One odd note is that when I took out the full plug there was pressure built up in there. There is a vent on the top
Could it be plugged or is it designed to allow air in and not out?
I will monitor but fully expect to find more water as we go along.

[Pinball]

We had the tranny oil with water and as you noted it was the external cooler that was faulty there.

[nukemustang]

was the boat subjected to freezing temps and maybe not winterized? It seems strange to have both problems, (i.e. the tranny and v-drive) but to answer a few things, the vent on the top will let air in and out. I had a Malibu that puked the fluid out the vent when a screen got clogged, made a mess. It will also let water in, if there was ever a time that the bilge filled excessively and it would allow the unit to fill with water.

I also am not sure about putting fluids other than the designed fluid in there. It seems that it may not be good for seals and any other materials that may not be designed for other fluids. The PCM manual (http://www.planetnautique.com/Correc...08/2008pcm.pdf) for an 08 specifies: Walters “V”-Drive SAE 30 fluid

[Pinball]

No freezing temps over overfilled bilge. We operate in tropics.It does seem suspicious to have had both problems yet, as this is a high time drivetrain with 6000 hours ( 3000 of that it says were idling) hours according to the computer, thus, through the years we've had our share of replacing parts. Our water is not salt but is known to be corrosive. We are on our third set of exhaust manifolds and risers. The liquids I put in for flush were just that and not run under load or for extended periods. All were petrol based so I am not too concerned about eating away at seals.
The water for its particulate content, lack of lubrication and its corrosive effects, concerns me more. Also that darn vent. This ol girl is a hot mess and leaks every fluid known to man! If anyone has knowledge of the internals of these V drives please feel free to join in. At this point I am leaning towards the internal cooler having corroded thru.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply

[Skidave]

I bet that cooler corroded through and that is the source of the water mixing in with the lubricant fluid. Pop the water hoses off the cooler and look at the condition of the veins inside.

[markj]

6000 hours??? WOW! Isn't that at least double the average life expectancy of a marine drivetrain?