Quicksilver Grease????

Question

I am new to boating, although I have been a vehicle tech for over 20 years. I am about to pull the outdrive off to check it over, replace the water pump assy, have a good look at the condition of all the bellows and grease the UJ and coupler splines.
All the manuals I have come across are of US origin and all state how imperative it is to use Quicksilver lubes as specified.

Now I have been greasing heavy truck UJs for years, which have covered 100s of thousands of miles without trouble, using normal EP2 lithium grease and since I have this lying around in large drums, am of the opinion that this should be just fine.

As for the shaft coupler splines, again I have also just used Molyslip in the past on various driveshaft splines without incident or stripped splines.

20 years of automotive experience tells me that these greases should be fine, but those manuals and my own ignorance of marine applications make me doubt my own experience.

Anyone had problems using auto grease?

Quicksilver lubes should be called solid silver with the outrageous prices they charge.
I will add though that the one area I do not intend to skimp on is the drive lube and have bought Quicksilver Hi Performance lube already for my drive (Mercruiser Alpha, gen 2).

Answer 1

Good Afternoon,

Before you pull the outdrive off, make sure that the shifter is in the forward position as the drive will not want to make its way off of the boat, and you'll probably break the shift cable before it comes off.

Even before we were MerCruiser dealers as we are now, we used MerCruiser supplies and equipment. We changed over to an automotive supplier for one half of a season and then changed back, mainly because we felt that after observation of the oils/lubes/greases after a 75 hr. service, they didn't seem to hold up. They were thin and seemed "tired." I've seen the MerCruiser stuff go for 150 Hours or more on a single service, and everything comes out almost as good as it went in. You'll probably be OK if you use the supplies that you have written about, but just to play it on the safe side, I highly recommend the MerCruiser supplies, mainly because they are proven and see an environment unlike any other. A few other things...Make sure you have a new drive gasket set to replace the old one that is currently on the boat. It will come with a few O-rings, but all you need to use is the actual outdrive gasket that goes onto the bell housing, and the "big O-gasket" that goes over the U-joints and onto the upper drive itself. If you get one, you'll be able to tell which ones I'm talking about.

Watch out when you're putting the drive back on. If you look at the forwardmost part of the drive, almost where the speedometer hose connects into the drive, look for the shift pin and make sure it is in the "forward" shift position when it goes back onto the boat, and watch the shift lever that is connected to the shift cable and make sure it is flush when you're putting it back on as well. You may have to spin the prop a little bit and kind-of push it onto the boat with your shoulder at the same time. Putting a little 2x4 underneath the skeg and setting the drive down on that sometimes helps a little when you're putting it back on. Normal opposing pattern on the drive nuts putting it on (like changing a tire), check torque specs as well. Good Luck, Happy Boating!

Answer 2

Growing up and when in collage I worked for 2 Mercury boat dealers. For grease we used this Red Grease in a tube, not remember what it was called. For gear lube we used the Mercury stuff, but, I always used just a 90W rear-end (Differential) oil/lube. I seen people use Molly and Lithium grease with no problems.
I will warn of the Steering rod that go through the engine mount to steer. Years ago they have a grease fitting and it seems you would put grease into this. DO NOT. We had many boats and the rod freeze up (Rust) into the cylinder it go through (Outboards, as the Inboards it not get wet). The grease holds moisture. So, we would clean out the grease and tell people to use Silicone Spray on the rod, turn the steering (Starboard/Right) so it come all the way out and spray it. I just keep a can in my boat and spray every-time I go out, which is everyday in summer. People would ask; "Why it have a grease fitting if you not supposed to grease it"? I tell them it was a mystery no one could answer! LOL!
You probably did well with the lower unit lube. The reason I say this. These things have changed a lot over the years. I knew this guy changed the Rear-End lube in his Ford. Just added 90W as he had done all his life to other cars. Well, the read-end went out. I ask what he did, and learned. Then I got a manual and it call for that Limited Slip Lube stuff (May not be exact name, but, mechanics know what I talk of). That all I could figure he did wrong, assumed the past for the present application. ;-) So the newer outdrives, may use a similar lube and I would not trust past experience for the present until I talked with someone working on them.

Answer 3

If the Mercruiser manuals tell you to use Quicksilver, you should use Quicksilver. A boat is a very expensive luxury expense, why take any chances by using stuff that is just lying around.

If you don't want to use Quicksilver, you can use Mercury
2-4-C with Teflon.

If you don't know this already, Mercury and Quicksilver are exactly the same.

Also don't forget to line up your engine prior to putting the drive back on or you will be pulling it back off to replace the coupler.

Answer 4

You don't have to use Quicksilver but you should use a marine grade grease and lower unit oil. I believe the difference is that automotive greases can attract moisture. Go to any marine supply store and see whats available in your area.

Answer 5

Correct me if I am wrong .Grease is water impervious?.I too am a grease monkey of the land variety.Boats are new to me too.I use copper grease when assembling automotive components.I can appreciate your concerns as water born crafts suffer adverse conditions.If I was you I would seek advice from other mariner types.Interesting.

Answer 6

The boating fraternity are amonst the friendliest people around. Any marina or hands on boater will I am sure point you in the right direction.
Happy cruising.