Tweet
My Vdrive on my 2000 SAN was a little noisy and a small amount of vibration at slower speed, so since I was replacing my steering cables I decided to investigate a little into the Vdrive. I pulled the dipstick , which I noticed was a bit tight to get out. Having never messed with the Vdrive, I thought that the dipstick was "retained" by something, so I was ignorant of the area of the dipstick with the low high marks. In hindsight, it was probably fine to begin with since I wasnt looking at the correct part of the dipstick. I did hwoever notice that the oil was water contaminated white in color, but no severe water intake as it was not at this point overflowing from the breather valve.
I noticed my top cover was cracked from a bad winterization. So per information I opened it up to inspect the copper cooling element and O rings. They were intact and O rings retained flexibility. The magnetic drain plug did not contain any shavings, just some black sludge. Cleaned surface of cooling box , applied an RTV gasket, and changed the oil. This time upon a new test as I was advised to repeatedly change the oil.
Upon a water test, I then had extra thick oil, probably thicker than paint, and white creamy color. I suspect this was due to water ingress and heat. This was horrible to drain and I made the biggest mess of my life in the bilge. I had also overfilled the Vdrive since I was not viewing the correct part of the dipstick so I had to drain and drain and drain thick oil. Refilled again with 1 qt 30wt. Still began to overflow after some time testing.
Further disassembled the vdrive to really take a look. Was tough to see an explanation about water ingress. Removed cover again and realized what I thought was a retainer of some kind was actually the dipstick gasket being detached from the knob on the dipstick. This is probably obvious to others but this was my first foray into a Vdrive. My conclusion is that water was being shot into the case of the Vdrive, filling it with water and mixing with the oil causing it to overflow from the breather valve.
I am not sure if I have seen this before so I thought I would post about it as I spent a lot of unnecessary hours investigating this when if I had just known the dipstick was a "one piece" and how crucial that gasket is. I suspect this is my issue and will report back once I replace that and my cover.
I have ordered a new dipstick from bakes marine
https://www.bakesonline.com/walters-...-dipstick.html
And a new gasket from nautique parts:
https://nautiqueparts.com/walter-v-drive-case-gaskets/
Hopefully this will resolve my issue. Still need a new cap but Ive got it RTV'D together seems to be holding for now.
I guess my question is it feasible that a bad gasket between the cover and the housing, or ust the fact that the plastic gasket cylinder was enough cause pressurized water to get into the crank case through the "open" dipstick hole?
I noticed my top cover was cracked from a bad winterization. So per information I opened it up to inspect the copper cooling element and O rings. They were intact and O rings retained flexibility. The magnetic drain plug did not contain any shavings, just some black sludge. Cleaned surface of cooling box , applied an RTV gasket, and changed the oil. This time upon a new test as I was advised to repeatedly change the oil.
Upon a water test, I then had extra thick oil, probably thicker than paint, and white creamy color. I suspect this was due to water ingress and heat. This was horrible to drain and I made the biggest mess of my life in the bilge. I had also overfilled the Vdrive since I was not viewing the correct part of the dipstick so I had to drain and drain and drain thick oil. Refilled again with 1 qt 30wt. Still began to overflow after some time testing.
Further disassembled the vdrive to really take a look. Was tough to see an explanation about water ingress. Removed cover again and realized what I thought was a retainer of some kind was actually the dipstick gasket being detached from the knob on the dipstick. This is probably obvious to others but this was my first foray into a Vdrive. My conclusion is that water was being shot into the case of the Vdrive, filling it with water and mixing with the oil causing it to overflow from the breather valve.
I am not sure if I have seen this before so I thought I would post about it as I spent a lot of unnecessary hours investigating this when if I had just known the dipstick was a "one piece" and how crucial that gasket is. I suspect this is my issue and will report back once I replace that and my cover.
I have ordered a new dipstick from bakes marine
https://www.bakesonline.com/walters-...-dipstick.html
And a new gasket from nautique parts:
https://nautiqueparts.com/walter-v-drive-case-gaskets/
Hopefully this will resolve my issue. Still need a new cap but Ive got it RTV'D together seems to be holding for now.
I guess my question is it feasible that a bad gasket between the cover and the housing, or ust the fact that the plastic gasket cylinder was enough cause pressurized water to get into the crank case through the "open" dipstick hole?
Attached Files