Oil leak from top of dipstick tube

[xravenx]

In the past my port dipstick comes out of the dipstick tube about a half an inch or so after running the boat. This leaves a few drops of oil on the bilge floor between the motors, wipes right up. Yesterday I popped the day hatch and there was a puddle of oil between the motors, the port dispstick was out of the tube about 2". I cleaned eveything up, did not have to add any oil, started the motor and there were no leaks. I ran the boat Sunday for a few hours..........I'm thinking because the dipstick was further out that more then the usual couple of drops of oil came out.........Any thoughts on this.

I'm going down today to put a cable tie on the dipstick and take a little run.........valid excuse to take the boat out , right?

John

 

[src]

You are building up excessive crank case pressure. Not sure if these engines have PCV valves, but I suspect they do. Replace that and pray that it fixes it. Otherwise you might be seeing ring blow-by, which means that one or more pistons/cylinders need attention.

 

[Happy Hour IV]

+1 You are in the year range and style that has problems with water reversion. Just a little salt water on the rings is enough to drop compression to 0.
The end result is very high crankcase pressure. You might want to do a compression check. If there is a problem it will be in cylinders 3,4,5 or 6 typically.
Low compression in just one cylinder does not tend to show up at idle or as miss, just a little less power than before. Good luck

 

[Jeepers]

Flip dipsticks.

 

[northern]

On my 454s there is a plastic line that goes from the top of each valve cover to the flame arrester, make sure they are clear. Not sure if there is a a PVC valve at the valve cove but assume there is. Good point made to check it. I will do that next time on my boat.

 

[Four Suns]

So... I'm going to respond because I've had this problem with my QSM-11's... but you have gas engines... but it may be the same. The dipsticks on my engines are held in with essentially a rubber stopper and if the rubber goes "bad", they come out. I would suggest replacing the dip stick first and see if that helps. In my case, Cummins came out with a locking dipstick.

Also, PVC valves are cheap... replace them.

 

[xravenx]

Flip dipsticks.

Went out for a run yesterday after cable tieing the one dipstick, no leaks for the first 10 minutes, then it started. Came back to the slip and talked with a couple guys on the dock, we switched the dipsticks (no cable tieing), went out for the same run and there were no leaks. There is a little play where the stick goes into the end cap of the one that was leaking, no play in the other one.

Thanks for the replies

 

[Jeepers]

Yup. That was my experience. Pair of pliers on the z bends on stick and all was good