Anyone with Zeus Pods?

Henry Boyd said:
I can’t speak to the technical details of the Zeus, being the happy owner of a boat with IPS. But, your point on annual pod oil & filter changes is the common wisdom for IPS as well.

I do kind of agree with you on the point that many who bad mouth pod drives generally have no actual experience.



The newer Volvo configurations have the pods coupled to the engine very similar to a sterndrive configuration. They don’t have to be done that way. Our Sabre has the engines mounted directly under the helm deck and connected to the pods with six (eight?) foot long jack shafts. Our boat was originally designed for shafts, hence this configuration. I know the Sabres with Zeus of the same vintage as ours also used a jack shaft arrangement. So but for the obvious business obstacles, a sea Ray could be equipped with an IPS configuration.
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I'm under contract to purchase a boat with 2015 Zeus PODS how do you know if these PODS have the newer cartridge seals or the older version? Oil sampled showed 1.25% & 1.37% of water in the PODS, I have been told not a problem by the local Zeus Dealer, but I think any water in PODS is not good.
 
tac said:
I'm under contract to purchase a boat with 2015 Zeus PODS how do you know if these PODS have the newer cartridge seals or the older version? Oil sampled showed 1.25% & 1.37% of water in the PODS, I have been told not a problem by the local Zeus Dealer, but I think any water in PODS is not good.
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It's probably condensation. If you ran the drives hard and then sampled, I bet the water percentage would be 0 or closer to it.
 
tac said:
I'm under contract to purchase a boat with 2015 Zeus PODS how do you know if these PODS have the newer cartridge seals or the older version? Oil sampled showed 1.25% & 1.37% of water in the PODS, I have been told not a problem by the local Zeus Dealer, but I think any water in PODS is not good.
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Any service records available?
 
Yes, I do have the service records, they have done all the required services yearly. Since this boat was new it has been docked in a floating covered slip, washed weekly, and Captained maintained weekly.
This boat is extremely clean, looks brand new inside and out. Only issue is small amount of water in both PODS.
 
I would call the people who serviced the boat and ask as well as call Mercury customer service with the serial numbers and discuss with them. I have found them to be helpful on the phone.
 
tac said:
I'm under contract to purchase a boat with 2015 Zeus PODS how do you know if these PODS have the newer cartridge seals or the older version? Oil sampled showed 1.25% & 1.37% of water in the PODS, I have been told not a problem by the local Zeus Dealer, but I think any water in PODS is not good.
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How was the oil sampled? On Volvo IPS the recommendation is to insert a tube into the dipstick hole down into the housing to siphon out oil with the oil warm. How far the tube is inserted I don’t know sitting here. The reasoning is that oil obtained via the drain hole may get contaminated. And this method also requires the boat to be in water and recently used. What causes contamination I don’t know, just that it’s the factory recommendation. But in line with Douglee’s comment above hot oil would definitely have less moisture than at ambient temp.
 
I believe Zeus pod oil needs to be sampled with the boat out of the water, taken from the access hole located on the torpedo part of the pod.
 
I didn't see how the sample was taken, but I know it was taken from the engine room. I'm also pretty sure the sample was taken before we left for the sea trial, the engines were idling but not for long when I think the samples were taken.

This is all good information that possibly running the boat then taking the sample might eliminate finding water in the sample. Maybe I can call Mercruiser and find out the correct procedure for oil sampling.

Thank you for the comments.
 
I think the 3 generations are denoted as HH IH and JH.
my 2010 has JH pods fwiw.
 
no, not that i know of.
i believe it is by serial number.

Call merc cust svc with your serial numbers and ask?

Edit :
Looks like there is a KH version as well...
Zeus 3000 Series HH and IH Model Pods sn# 0M957858–0M963372
 
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andrewfoley said:
Dunigan: So far it looks like the ceramic coating of the shafts (lower gear units) is working as planned. After over 200 hours, we pulled off the props and the grease is still there and looks like it was brand new. You can see the ceramic coating on the end of the shafts and it looks perfect. If there was any leak again, the first thing to go would be that grease. I kinda wanted to pull the lower gear off to look internally but there was just no need to do it. Hope this helps. I know my brother is planning on doing them as a preventative maintenance when he services his pods.
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Andrew, do you have any further updates on the effectiveness of the ceramic coatings on your shafts? A Sea Ray owner on the Chesapeake did this last winter and his coatings look great after being pulled this winter (pictured below). Others on the East Coast are using this solution! Please let us know how yours are doing! TIA.
 

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i have a 2013 54 Sundancer with 400 hours on it. i have full service on the engines, generators and change the pod oil annually. marine max has been changing the oil from the top of the pods (ie not our of the water). last year i had the boat pulled and we drained the oil from the bottom of the pods which is the correct method so that no debris stays in the pods. a good mechanic can probably get by with changing from the top every year for a few years but i'd recommend every time you have a bottom job or pull the boat for any reason out of water to pull the pod oil from the bottom. it is cheap to do and takes no time.
last year i had a pod go out at 400 hours. while the boat was out of warranty mercruiser still gave me a big break on the new pod at a price of $10,000. i decided to change both pods, annodes and such while the boat was out of the water and the entire bill for two new pods installed was $35,000. not a deal killer at all on a 7 year old boat of this caliber. my long time marine max mechanic told me they changed the seals on the new pods and "these pods should last forever." the old style seals eventually permit water leaking into the pods which equals failure.

i'm an old school 40 year shaft boat driver. however, i love these pods and would not be afraid to own a boat with pods. if i bought an older boat i'd just negotiate down $40-50,000 so make sure i had room to replace a pod or two when the time came.

happy pod boat owner.
 
searay multiple owner said:
i have a 2013 54 Sundancer with 400 hours on it. i have full service on the engines, generators and change the pod oil annually. marine max has been changing the oil from the top of the pods (ie not our of the water). last year i had the boat pulled and we drained the oil from the bottom of the pods which is the correct method so that no debris stays in the pods. a good mechanic can probably get by with changing from the top every year for a few years but i'd recommend every time you have a bottom job or pull the boat for any reason out of water to pull the pod oil from the bottom. it is cheap to do and takes no time.
last year i had a pod go out at 400 hours. while the boat was out of warranty mercruiser still gave me a big break on the new pod at a price of $10,000. i decided to change both pods, annodes and such while the boat was out of the water and the entire bill for two new pods installed was $35,000. not a deal killer at all on a 7 year old boat of this caliber. my long time marine max mechanic told me they changed the seals on the new pods and "these pods should last forever." the old style seals eventually permit water leaking into the pods which equals failure.

i'm an old school 40 year shaft boat driver. however, i love these pods and would not be afraid to own a boat with pods. if i bought an older boat i'd just negotiate down $40-50,000 so make sure i had room to replace a pod or two when the time came.

happy pod boat owner.
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DO YOU KNOW WHAT GENERATION PODS YOU GOT INSTALLED? IM ASSUMING THE LATEST BUT NOT SURE WHAT GEN THAT WOULD BE.
 
Dunigan said:
Andrew, do you have any further updates on the effectiveness of the ceramic coatings on your shafts? A Sea Ray owner on the Chesapeake did this last winter and his coatings look great after being pulled this winter (pictured below). Others on the East Coast are using this solution! Please let us know how yours are doing! TIA.
Click to expand...

I have had zero issues with the pods since doing the ceramic coating. Annual maintenance is done annually (shockingly to some i know - LOL) and there is no intrusion. Highly recommend it!
 
andrewfoley said:
I have had zero issues with the pods since doing the ceramic coating. Annual maintenance is done annually (shockingly to some i know - LOL) and there is no intrusion. Highly recommend it!
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Andrew,
Is the ceramic coating something mercury recommended/did for you?
 
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