Oil Leak

D

DieselDogg

Member
Dec 18, 2013
98
Boat Info
Boatless
Engines
Diesel
Got some sort of oil leak, looks like motor oil, but not 100%. It's center, front of engine. Here is a few pics. First pic shows the drip and second is a pic with camera pointing up into the area where it looks like it's leaking from. Anyone know what it is?
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I'm planning on pulling both motors this fall to address the steering pins that are leaking. I'm guessing if it's the oil pan, the only way to replace that gasket would be with engine out, right? What about the timing cover? Can that be done with the motor in place?

Any suggestions on how to figure out if it's oil pan or timing cover? It only leaks when the motor is running.

Thanks!
 
Front crank damper seal perhaps? Either that or pan gasket, timing cover gasket.
 
This isn't likely freshwater boat, but it is worth checking because it could save e an expensive and time consuming repair you don't need.

Mercruiser paints the engines after the accessories are bolted on. That means the circulating pump blocks paint from getting to the top 1/2 of the timing cover. Since the timing cover is stamped mild steel, they rust fairly quickly. When they rust thru, the timing gear/chain will sling oil thru the rusty spots. When that happens, you get oil drips exactly where your leaks appear to be.

It is worth checking before you pull engines out of the boat.
 
DieselDogg said:
I'm planning on pulling both motors this fall to address the steering pins that are leaking. I'm guessing if it's the oil pan, the only way to replace that gasket would be with engine out, right? What about the timing cover? Can that be done with the motor in place?

Any suggestions on how to figure out if it's oil pan or timing cover? It only leaks when the motor is running.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Clean everything up real good, then lights and mirror to find the source. I sure wouldn't pull motors to do a swivel pin repair either, unless you have unlimited time and resources. Leak is probably the timing cover seal, which could very well be attached to a plastic timing cover, so then the whole thing needs replacing.

Google JR marine swivel pin repair. Way less painful $$$$ approach
 
I was thinking about JR Marine route and actually have had one of their kits sitting in my garage for a year, but I'm hesitant to cut that hole in the transom. I figured that if I pull the engines, I could clean everything up really good and hopefully have an immaculate ER / motors. It would just come down to time for me, as I was planning on doing it myself. Boat sits on the trailer all winter at my house and I have a guy about a mile from my house who runs a fiberglass repair business out of his home, who has the lift to pull motors out. That's about the only labor expense I would have. I am definitely a little intimidated to go for it as I've never done it, but I've been looking at it for over a year now and looks very doable.

If my oil leak is in fact timing cover seal, can that be done with engine in the boat?

Thanks for replies everyone!

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If it's a metal cover, you can just pop the seal out. Plastic, cover needs to come off. Both doable in the boat
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Going to wait till fall to address this. I'll be sure to come back and update the thread when I figure it out.

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While you at fixing the steering arm leak install the grease fitting to prevent it from happening again
 
fwebster said:
This isn't likely freshwater boat, but it is worth checking because it could save e an expensive and time consuming repair you don't need.

Mercruiser paints the engines after the accessories are bolted on. That means the circulating pump blocks paint from getting to the top 1/2 of the timing cover. Since the timing cover is stamped mild steel, they rust fairly quickly. When they rust thru, the timing gear/chain will sling oil thru the rusty spots. When that happens, you get oil drips exactly where your leaks appear to be.

It is worth checking before you pull engines out of the boat.
Click to expand...

As always, Frank is on-target. That happened to me on my previous boat. Not quite a trivial repair, but simple enough to do without moving the engine.

Regarding pulling the engine... I pulled the engine from that boat, fixed an issue with the exhaust system, replaced the leaky oil pan, and put everything together in a day. The marina owner agreed that I could use the chain hoist in his shop if I promised to let him take my boat out of his shop by the end of the day.
 
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