change gear oil mercruiser alpha one

[Liam]

so is that kit an add on? or was it standard equip on certain years ?
I have a pre alpha, "R" drive i believe, and it does not have the resevoir.
Is it worth adding,it screws into the upper vent i presume or is there an additional hole drilled in the gearcase?
sorry for misleading you
TIA

[roffey]

This is my first season with the boat. I found the reservoir when I started to take boards apart when try to troubleshoot a trim problem (yahoo, a $80 switch will fix that problem). Thanks spareparts, I thought filling from the vent is a no no. You told me what I thought was the way to go. Correct me if I am wrong but the reservoir is an add on and is there to insure oil is always on supply.

[spareparts]

the reservoir was an add on on the alpha gen 1 set ups, its standard on gen II and bravo drives. You can add it to any drive. It used to be available, I haven't looked lately to see if it still is. I used to build a bunch of out drives, till the reservoirs came out(especially with the alarm), it really cut down on how many out drive failures there was

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by spareparts

the reservoir was an add on on the alpha gen 1 set ups, its standard on gen II and bravo drives. You can add it to any drive. It used to be available, I haven't looked lately to see if it still is. I used to build a bunch of out drives, till the reservoirs came out(especially with the alarm), it really cut down on how many out drive failures there was

Not all BRAVO's had it. I had an 89 BRAVO that did not have the factory reservoir plumbing in the outdrive. I want to say it was 91 they all came with it. And like spare said ONLY fill from the lower drain plug. Your going to need about 3-4 quarts to refill it.

[cfelton]

Its funny you mentioned you're doing that. I pulled my Alpha lower unit yesterday and replaced the water pump impeller and refilled the unit with new oil. Pumped it in from the bottom hole, held alittle more than a quart. Good luck with yours!

[roffey]

My fix for the trim tabs will not be as smoth as I thought. My parts people called me back to report the part is no longer available... I am going to see if I can pick up a used one, my switch has 4 buttons on it... I guess the new ones are a rocker switch.