Sanger low v drive oil
 

Dropped her in for a set or two, drove across the lake and noticed low v drive oil light. Won't go off, even above 1200 RPM. Currently puttering toward the launch at 5mph. Or should I run it at 30 mph so it doesn't run low for longer??

Back on trailer. Not making any noise at all

What oil goes in there? ATF IIRC

Looks like 30 wt is recommended by Sanger.

Showing that its full with reddish ATF. Is that idiot light connected to something else? Prone to fail? Need service?

2006 V230 with Black Scorpion and walter v drive

30 weight non detergent is what's supposed to go in the vdrive.

So that's not the quaker state I've got on hand is it?

Damn thing reads full though! And says don't overfill. Should I let it cool off?

Are you sure you not looking at the transmission dipstick? Tranny takes ATF, vdrive takes 30 weight.

Thank you meathead. Found te vdrive dipstick. Looked like a breather vent at first. It too shows about halfway between H and L marks. Should i top it off?

Definitely isnt what i would call low but dont know how sensitive that light is. fluid looks nice and clean. has about 50 hours since last service. Do these use or burn any oil regularly? If not, i need to find where its leaking

They don't hold much oil. I would top it off and try it,

Ok thx. Ill add a bit and take a little with me for tomorrow

Nacho- the Vdrive oil level should be checked when it's hot. If you were at half full cold it could have been low when hot.

That's weird. I'd expect it to read low cold. Thanks Larry. I'll make sure I get it heated up and add some then check it.

To be clear, I checked it when we got home from lake so it was still warm

Manual says the oil level should be checked after the boat has been run and allowed to sit for about a minute. I checked mine when hot one day on the water and it read at the bottom of the range. I didn't have any oil on me so I didn't add and the Vdrive light was going out above 1200 so I didn't worry about it. I checked again when cold and it read half full. Hopefully when you add a bit you will be good to go.

A few years ago I had the pressure sensor in my v-drive fail. I am pretty sure that when it failed the light on the dash always stayed lit.

Correction- when cold it was at the middle of acceptable range on dip stick. Half full is misleading.

Ill do some googling but im still unsure about non detergent oil vs regular. is there a difference or does it matter?

My light started flickering driving through some choppy water the other day. Checked it on the lake and it barely registering on the dipstick. Took about third-half a quart to get up close to full after I got it home. Will check it again after it gets warm putting through the no wake next time and see if it has too much now. Didn't know you were supposed to check it when hot. I'm sure it was low but I may have topped it off a bit much. I would think you add a little to it your problem will go away.

Has anyone added a buzzer or linked it to stock buzzer? Seems a relay or even splice into the light leads would be helpful. I don't think I ran it long before I noticed but don't want another driver to have to scan the dash periodically.

Any comments on non detergent oil are appreciated. If not, quaker state it is! Think it's leftover from jeep oil change

I'm no oil expert, but I'll share my thoughts: detergent oils are designed to attract contaminants and hold then in suspension in the oil. This is believed to aid in reducing sludge buildup because the contaminants bind to the oil and the filter gets a better shot at pulling them out before they become large enough to risk damage. Non-detergent oils do not bind contaminants. They tend to run cooler than detergent oils. They also are less susceptible to viscosity degradation under high heat and load situations.

There are some other benefits/drawbacks to the different types based on bearing types/gear face sheer loads etc....most of that is beyond my pay grade.

My .02.... Most of these boats are actually low stress applications for a modern Walter or Hurth or ZF VDrive unit, but some of these surf setups running huge ballast are putting a bit more strain on them. I would run the recommended non detergent oil if it was my own boat. We always use non detergent oil in my shop when we service them. That being said, I can't say I've ever seen a oil related failure in a modern V Drive unit.

These shouldn't burn much oil at all. They only need to be changed every 300 hours after the initial 100 hour change. Just add some and see if it remedy's the situation.