Do I have a big problem with the outdrive on my 212 Captiva?

[ss jteam]

Hi everyone,
I have a Mercruiser 5.0L in my 2001 212 Captiva.  Was out for a quick ride today and all of a sudden there was a continuous loud beep.  I stopped immediately and looked in to the engine compartment.  The cap on the container holding the outdrive lube had come off.  I found the cap and replaced it but the fluid level was all the way up to the top of the container.  Even after several minutes the fluid level would not "settle" back down to the normal level.  I was able to get back to my marina but I am concerned that I have a serious problem.

Please let me know if any of you have any advice/inputs.
THANKS!
Steve

[morrisdl]

I would suggest pulling the boat out of the water and drain it to the proper level.  Its a good time to drain it all and replace the fluid if you are close to that maintenance interval anyway.  

(note to self - go check drive lube cap tightness)

[frodo13056]

Steve,
Something sounds a bit off here - you mentioned that you heard a loud beeping - was it the same beep that you hear when you turn your ignition key? If it was, there are only 3 conditions that would cause that beep on a Mercruiser setup:
1) Engine high temperature
2) Engine low oil pressure
3) Lower unit gear lube reservoir level low

There is no alarm if you over fill your gear lube reservoir. When you looked at your lube reservoir did the gear lube look milky or was it the normal dark green color? If it was milky, you have water in your gear lube but that won't make your alarm go off. Milky gear lube means that you have water intrusion in your lower unit - not sure where it would be coming in such that it would actually increase the reservoir level though. As already suggested, you should pull the boat and drain the gear lube - and see what it looks like. If there is water in the lube, it's time for some maintenance.

Good luck,
Steve

[morrisdl]

Steve,
Something sounds a bit off here - you mentioned that you heard a loud beeping - was it the same beep that you hear when you turn your ignition key? If it was, there are only 3 conditions that would cause that beep on a Mercruiser setup:
1) Engine high temperature
2) Engine low oil pressure
3) Lower unit gear lube reservoir level low

I think this is generally true, but I know all too well that my 2004 merc mpi also beeps for low sea water pressure, excessive rpms in neutral, and many other cryptic beeps things.  All of which were false alarms based on a bad shift sensor in my case.

[ss jteam]

Thanks everyone (Morrisdl, I am a UofR alum so hope all is well up there!).  

I feel confident that the beep corresponded to low gear drive oil since the cap was off and fluid was coming out the top of the reservoir.  In any case, I wouldn't call the fluid milky, it was still pretty dark blue.  Just very aerated and stirred up.  I went back the next day and the reservoir was still full to the top.  The boat is in the water so I drained the reservoir in my slip and filled it back up with fresh fluid.  

Am thinking you guys are right though in that I should pull it out and try to drain/replace the fluid.  I'm a total newbie, is that a tough job?  How do you dispose of the oil?

Thanks for the inputs everyone.
Steve