5.7 Mercruiser 350 Oil Leak

[CliffA]

I'll definitely be getting one of these then. @CliffA How did you make out with the wiring since the water witch needs constant +12V? The way my helm switch is wired it's just on/off as an override with the off being "auto" I guess...

@NorCal Boater Maybe I am totally off here but maybe this is a more common problem in smaller boats since the engine room is so compact. My oil pan sits only a few inches from the bilge floor. I almost wonder if the float switch would kick on before the water makes it up to the first 1/2" of the oil pan which is exactly where mine is rusted...

it is VERY difficult for me to even see my bilge pumps much less work on them....so when i finally wiggled my way back there I opted to simply cut the factory wiring to the original low water bilge pump and remove the original pump and float switch...I installed the new pump in the same position as the original pump...they were both 'Rule' pumps so the bases were the same....I left the original pump base mounted to the bilge floor and snapped the new pump into the original base....then I direct wired the 'water witch' switch to my house battery bank with an inline fuse and determined what height the switch needed to be and mounted it to the sump wall....I lost the ability to manually operate the pump from the dash but I was OK with that....my original high water pump and float switch and alarm still work fine so I left that alone...

cliff

 

[NorCal Boater]

I'll definitely be getting one of these then. @CliffA How did you make out with the wiring since the water witch needs constant +12V? The way my helm switch is wired it's just on/off as an override with the off being "auto" I guess...

@NorCal Boater Maybe I am totally off here but maybe this is a more common problem in smaller boats since the engine room is so compact. My oil pan sits only a few inches from the bilge floor. I almost wonder if the float switch would kick on before the water makes it up to the first 1/2" of the oil pan which is exactly where mine is rusted...

My boat is smaller than yours and I have a 10 quart oil pan.

 

[maxse]

@NorCal Boater Interesting...I’m sure the quality varies between manufacturers but the problem definitely has to do with bilge water. If the bilge water stays below the pan it’s probably not going to rust. And I agree after hearing your story that the pan should last over 10 years if properly cared for.

I got the boat back and everything is running great. The handling seemed to be a little off...maybe it’s just me. Is it possible that something shifted slightly when putting the engine back on or does the engine drop right in dead center?

 

[NorCal Boater]

Glad you got the boat back. Ideally the motor should drop right in however, they should have pulled the drive and checked the alignment. you may want to ask them if that was done. Hang in there....

 

[maxse]

Alignment is good...I noticed a huge hole was cut about 15”x20” in the side of the engine hatch. You can’t really notice it unless you open the engine hatch. Is this a requirement in order to lift out the engine? Just doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[bbwhitejr]

Alignment is good...I noticed a huge hole was cut about 15”x20” in the side of the engine hatch. You can’t really notice it unless you open the engine hatch. Is this a requirement in order to lift out the engine? Just doesn’t make sense to me.

No! No holes were cut in mine!

Bennett

 

[maxse]

I can’t be 100% that it was from this repair but I just noticed it. It was cut in a way that seems like it would have assisted with lifting the hatch off with a machine lift or something. Just doesn’t make sense to have a hole there for any other reason. The previous owner had the hatch lift itself replaced as it failed but again I don’t see a reason why a huge hole would need to be cut there. I’m going to try to cover it with something to see if I notice the engine noise dampen and that will tell me if this happened recently or not.

 

[bbwhitejr]

The hatch was never removed from mine, only the actuator so the hatch would lean back against the rear seat.

Bennett

 

[maxse]

The fact that they cut this size hole doesn’t seem right to me...You can see it in the photo in between the gap if you look closely it’s pretty big. I guess I never have to worry about running the bilge blower...

 

[maxse]

Definitely was not cut during this project so it has been like this all along. It was never picked up on the inspection report when I purchased the boat. The only thing I can think of is the batteries died over a winter after not being removed properly ... they pulled off the starboard vent and cut a hole so they could reach the hatch pin. There is a deck access panel installed under the aft seat right next to the hatch actuator pin.