ZF 45 I - Water in vdrive

[huzer1]

I went to winterize, checked the fluids and the V Drive fluid is milky white... My question is, can I run this without fluid in neutral so I can see if the cooler is leaking? I'm not sure if there's anything spinning in neutral in there. Any other advice is appreciated as well.

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[boatwakes]

Flush, flush, flush, flush and flush with new clean atf 5 times with the belt removed on the engine each time. DO NOT RUN WITHOUT FLUID. The gerotor pump with fail and then you're SOL. It is most likely a failed cooler but you may dodge a bullet if you do the above NOW. If not, the clutches, bearings and gears will not let you get into or possible out of gear next season. Following flushing, plan on removing the cooler, o-rings and seals and replacing the bundle with new.

[huzer1]

Thanks boatwakes. You mention with the belts removed from the engine, I'm assuming this is to keep water from pumping through? Also, do you have a suggestion on where to source the parts from?

Thanks!

[boatwakes]

Correct about the belts however, if you have a crankshaft mounted raw water pump, then leave the belts on and pull the hoses off the v-drive cooler and connect them outside the cooler, effectively bypassing it. Parts can be found at any ZF dealer if you have the model and serial number for them. They'll be able to pull up the diagrams and part numbers with those.