Oil For Volvo Outdrive

[sharktales]

I have CC25 with the VOLVO KAMD300 with the DP-G outdrive. My question is do I have to use the volvo oil in the outdrive or can I use something else? Like a good synthetic 75w-140 gear oil. Is the volvo oil just a regular gear oil or is it something special? Because by the price they sure act like it special. What do you guys use? Is it safe to use something else? Thanks Charlie

[dtaylor]

gear oil

I have the same motor and outdrive and I have just stuck with the Volvo gear oil. It is pricy but I believe that the book requires outdrive oil change every 200 hours. Sorry I don't have an alternative but I am sticking with the Volvo while still under warrenty.

[Petty Cash]

I have twin 300 kamd diesels and use volvo oil. I get all my filters and oil from marinepartsexpress.com. Maybe this might help.

[code blue]

gear oill

if out of waranty no need to use their oil. Like you said too pricey. I was using synthetic but for some reason they reccomend non synthetic brand and a little more frequent change. I used penzoil without any problems, appropriate weight of course.

[Patriot]

Synthetic Gear Oil

Numerous mfgs, outdrive and OB do not recomment using synthetic gear oil. The reason is that synthetic oil does not mix with water at all. Regular marine gear oil can still provide a decent level of gear lubrication with entrained water to some degree. If you check for water all the time it would not be a big deal but a water kept boat could build up a good amount of water in the gear oil over time from several sources, syn oil would not be a good choice in that case. The added emulsifiers in regular gear oil could be the difference between losing a drive or not. One also needs to be careful using non-marine gear oil because those oils are not designed to ever deal with water such that they lack the added emulsifiers. One of the few areas where the word "marine" is more than just hype IMO.
Mike