Oil sample results on Zeus Pods on Survey

Have a couple questions for the group concerning a survey I ordered on a 550 Fly I'm interested to purchase, and the survey results on oil samples.

Port & Stbd Transmission - Wear metals high indicating possible clutch wear, PQ index number (ferrous material) appears higher than normal.

Port & Stbd POD Gearbox - High level of water present. Wear metals high indicating possible gear wear.

Port & Stbd Hydraulic System - test results indicated presence of water, unable to do particle count due to presence of water. Copper level exceeds values for this component.

How bad is this and what action should be taken by Seller to correct?

Special Note: PODS were serviced in August 2020.

Sea Test- Cruising - 21 knts @ 2600 rpm (seems to be in range)

Top Speed - 21.6 knts @2750 rpm (way off of 30knts &
3000 rpm's)

This boat does have a Seakeeper adding 1200lbs will this affect the top end speed, and rpm, or what else could affect speed so dramatically?

This is a very large purchase for me, your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Capt J
Thank you for your comments.
The Oil Sample Report didn't give information about PPM.
It just listed high water level present.
The August POD Service was done by a qualified well respected Service Company.
The Surveyor I hired is the same Company that did the August Service.
It was reported this Seller did run a ground twice in last 18 months knocking off the same POD twice. I was told it was replaced because couldn't find it.
During Sea Trail The Captain told me this boat performs best with the trim tabs all the way down, which he did do, but this boat is also equipped with auto trim tabs.
The Surveyor wanted to collect all data and then discuss with me today.
When I asked the Captain who had 5 years experience with this boat about top end speed and rpm being way off, he said you can pick up 3-4 knts when the props and bottom are clean. We had the boat out of the water everything was clean, boat paint had another year left, props had a little prop speed left other than that it was clean.
I have been in contact with 8-10 Prestige's Owners with this same boat with Zeus PODS Top Speed all get 3000 rpm and 30-32 knts, in Sea Trail we got 21.6knts at 2700rpm. Something is off, we got 21knts at 2600, which is ok for cruising.

I did get more information after my post. The first owner did knock off the same POD twice that was 5 years ago, and the bottom plate was replaced. The current owner of the last 2 years has never had a POD problem, and had a Captain maintained the boat on a weekly schedule. The water in the PODS were 1.24 & 1.37 ppm. According to the Owner of Survey company, which is also the only Zeus Service Co in the area told me these levels of water can be found in all Zeus PODS and wasn’t a concerned. Can anyone confirm this amount of water is normal or not?

Selling Broker sent me pictures from last year showing the gauges of this boat at 3000 rpm and 29.5 knts. The Sellers are going to pull the boat, replace the trim tab zincs, and clean the props, which they claim will make the difference in top end speed. Then another Sea trial with me on board to prove that it does make speed and rpm at top speed.

Sellers sent me the survey when they bought the boat at 250 hours February 2019, now this boat has 430 hours still I would consider a very low hour boat. The iron and copper metals seem to be the two most common metals to analysis. In most cases when comparing the current survey to 2019 survey metals reading are better than 2019. I was told by the Owner of the survey company, another bench mark to review are the metal readings close to the same om both PODS and Transmissions, if they are he said this is a indication this normal wear. After reviewing the current metals reading they are very close between PODS and Transmissions.

I'm going to reach out to Cummins and Zeus and see if I can find someone that can tell me if these readings are in line with a 430 hour boat or not.

The only reason to sell that was conveyed to me, decided to buy a smaller cruiser boat, due to fly bridge too hard to access for this couple.

Found out from Mercruiser - Zeus Div. POD information on oil sample analysis. There are no websites or published data that could be shared, only verbal information. They don’t look at metal readings at all, only water percentage. Very simple measurement below 1% water in POD is Ok, anything over 1% is out of their tolerance and recommend seal replacement. When I asked how water gets in the POD, answer - around shaft is the only way.