ZF220 Leak – WWM or Urgent?

[Patrick Mangum]

I believe I have a leaking output seal on both of my ZF220 gears.  Maybe leaking elsewhere as well on the port side – hard to tell.  The port side is leaking much more, only a few drops on the stbd side.  This has been an ongoing issue since I purchased the boat last year.  I guess marine age is the culprit? 

We changed the gear oil on both sides a few months back.  Old gear oil was still golden in color and looked clean.

I cleaned everything up the best I could before a 2hr charter and placed a clean diaper under the port gear.  I ran the boat for 2 hours at harbor speeds – 1000 rpms.  Attached picture shows the amount of leakage on the port side after 2 hours at harbor speeds. I’m not sure if its leaking only at the seal and running down to the bottom of the casing or leaking in multiple places.  I did find oil residue on the casing up under the gear as well.  I’ve cleaned all that up for now and put a clean diaper under to see if it leaks at rest.  

My question is – Do I just wait watch and monitor this for now or is this more urgent?  I’m not sure how much oil I will lose on a 12 hour offshore trip.  Do these seals catastrophically fail in which I would lose all my gear oil suddenly?  I do have the SMX gear oil pressure switches wired to a separate alarm panel and have them set so they “chirp” when going in and out of gear.  

The cost of a new gear is one thing, the wait time is another so I want to be cautious.  I was told by a local ZF dealer if I had to order a new gear today I’d be lucky to have it in November.    

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[Patrick Mangum]

Tony,

Thank you.  Your help and input is always appreciated.  

Noted on the oil pipes – I read up on others’ misfortunes and decided not to even attempt removal in fear of breaking it.

 

[Tony Athens]

IMO, I’d keep all as clean as possible and WWM…  a few drips (ounce or two) over a day is not mission disabling as long as to do not let the gear oil level get too low  

 

Major caution on these very early IRM 220A’s–The cast aluminum oil pipe casting under the pump..  Very delicate and easy to break when  you try and remove the big aluminum  plug on it–Break the casting and you are “done”  ( new later version 220A gear time) as the part IS NOT available.  Machining a new one out of an aluminum billet is doable if you happen to be a “tool & die maker” in your other life  and you work for free..

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Patrick Mangum

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