hey. yesterday i changed the oil on my lower unit. when i took out the top plug, i found it with a lot of metal burr. should i worry about it?? 

last time i used the boat, i noticed a grinding noise when going into gear. and yesterday when i removed the lower plug, a mudlike substance came out, it was barely flowing. then some dark oil and a couple drops of water came out as well. i used a compressor on the top plug to remove as much oil as i could, and then put API GL 5 80-90 oil in it. i went for a test drive and it worked great, no grinding noise and ran as usual....

 

 

may be normal wear.  Depends on when the last time you changed the lower unit oil.  If you do it twice a year then yes that is too much wear.  If you have not changed it in a couple of years than that may be normal.  I would change it again in a month or so and see if the metal shavings are back.  This could indicate you have problems on the horizon.

thanx. i really dont know how old was the oil, as i purchased the boat last July and didnt change the oil then, the owner said he had performed service recently. our fishing season starts on June 25, so ill change it after some hours on it to see how it looks... 

You are on the right track. Impossible to tell if there is a problem since the boat is new to you. Only thing you can do is check again after running it for a few hours and see if its back. Who knows, the previous owner might have NEVER changed it. I know people like that.. .

2 hours ago, (='_'=) said:

the owner said he had performed service recently.  

Some people will tell you what you just what you want to hear and not think twice about it.  If it was as dirty as you described, I doubt he ever changed the oil.  But I would do what others have said-run it for awhile and recheck it.

I'll just echo what's been said. I'd also try turning the prop by hand when out of the water and feel if it spins freely. On the last boat I bought the lower unit was going out, I didn't notice it until it was at home, when you'd spin the prop you could hear it/feel it.