Oil Leaks

Althepal78

Althepal78

Active Member
Jul 11, 2023
184
Spring Hill Florida
Boat Info
1998 Sea Ray 180 Bowrider
Engines
3.0 mercruiser 135HP or something like that
The last time I used my boat I found out I had an oil leak. I don't have the money at the time to take apart my stern drive section but I do believe it is not coming from that part anyways. I believe it is coming from the inside of the boat but I don't know where I sould check first. I ask this question on google but most answers came back for an outboard :( I fix one thing and there goes another
 
Is it engine oil? Gear oil? Hydraulic oil?

Leaking into the hull? Leaking into the water?
 
You can spend a few years chasing an oil leak. You just have to keep looking, cleaning and looking. I found mine on the outboard side of the valve cover. Only found it because I grabbed the cover for support and came up with a handful of oil.
 
Althepal78 said:
The last time I used my boat I found out I had an oil leak. I don't have the money at the time to take apart my stern drive section but I do believe it is not coming from that part anyways. I believe it is coming from the inside of the boat but I don't know where I sould check first. I ask this question on google but most answers came back for an outboard :( I fix one thing and there goes another
Click to expand...
It's definitely engine oil leaking into the hull
 
What makes you positive that it's engine oil? Power steering fluid can be the same color as engine oil... as can drive fluid depending on what style is used.

But, as always, the first thing to do is to put your detective hat on and trace the leak. Start at where it is showing up on the bilge floor and go up from there. Then you have to trace the oil trail on the various engine parts.

If your engine is clean, you may be able to follow the trail from the topside down. If the engine isn't clean, clean it REALLY well then monitor closely.

The evidence of the leak is there - find it.

How much oil are we talking about here?
 
Update:
So I am looking at this cleaning it up and it seems to be empty in the resorvoir. I have no idea what oil or fluid goes inside here. Everytime I use this boat it seems as something breaks crazy.

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Lazy Daze said:
What makes you positive that it's engine oil? Power steering fluid can be the same color as engine oil... as can drive fluid depending on what style is used.

But, as always, the first thing to do is to put your detective hat on and trace the leak. Start at where it is showing up on the bilge floor and go up from there. Then you have to trace the oil trail on the various engine parts.

If your engine is clean, you may be able to follow the trail from the topside down. If the engine isn't clean, clean it REALLY well then monitor closely.

The evidence of the leak is there - find it.

How much oil are we talking about here?
Click to expand...
I think it is the power steering fluid my oil seemed to be full and I have no clue what I am talking about half the time. Sorry I have been so busy I have not touced my boat until today :) and by busy I mean lazy
 
Althepal78 said:
I think it is the power steering fluid my oil seemed to be full and I have no clue what I am talking about half the time. Sorry I have been so busy I have not touced my boat until today :) and by busy I mean lazy
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That is the power steering pump. It should not be too hard to find with a mirror and some patience. The hoses have crimped ends and they usually leak there - check both sides.
 
boatrboy said:
That is the power steering pump. It should not be too hard to find with a mirror and some patience. The hoses have crimped ends and they usually leak there - check both sides.
Click to expand...
Okay I will but maybe tomorrow it's about to rain lol
 
boatrboy said:
That is the power steering pump. It should not be too hard to find with a mirror and some patience. The hoses have crimped ends and they usually leak there - check both sides.
Click to expand...
Or other sources of leak:
The power steering ram seal (will be obvious)
The power steering cooler could be leaking, internally (from a busted cooler tube)
 
As Golfman said keep looking. It took me many years to find a leak. It was a slightly loose fitting. I put pads under the engines and looked for areas of drips.
 
Clean the bilge with any degreaser, I use purple power. Dry completely. Then lay paper towels on the floor in the area you think is leaking. See if you get drips in the area. You will have to run the engine with water muffs.

Hose fittings would be my best guess. The bearing seal would be next. IF it’s the hoses be sure to use crimped hoses and not press in fittings! Mine were leaking (transmission cooling) at the cooling unit. Easy fix once you get things out of the way.

Let us know how it goes. Lots of newer boaters can learn how to do these things using your efforts.
 
northern said:
As Golfman said keep looking. It took me many years to find a leak. It was a slightly loose fitting. I put pads under the engines and looked for areas of drips.
Click to expand...
I noticed that my engine smoked as well just remembering that
 
If it's the power steering pump then you're in luck. Shouldn't be too difficult, or too expensive, to repair.

Going forward, you need to get your head around the fact that there are going to be ongoing issues with any 25 year old boat. It's just part of it. Just know you're not alone. ALL of us go through this at some time or the other.
 
copb8tx said:
If it's the power steering pump then you're in luck. Shouldn't be too difficult, or too expensive, to repair.

Going forward, you need to get your head around the fact that there are going to be ongoing issues with any 25 year old boat. It's just part of it. Just know you're not alone. ALL of us go through this at some time or the other.
Click to expand...
I want to buy a new boat lol minus the fix it problem right after it's fixed lol
 
Althepal78 said:
I noticed that my engine smoked as well just remembering that
Click to expand...
White smoke is probably condensation in the exhaust system that is OK. Blue smoke is not good if it is all the time. A blue puff on startup is OK. It could be slight leak in valve guides. Lots of information on this site about exhaust smoke and what the cause is.
 
As others have said that reservoir is your power steering. There are hoses that run back to the steering rack in the back of the motor, they also run the fluid through a cooler. The hoses are rubber and they are pressurized and can leak. The PS cooler can fail, when it does, PS fluid will go out of the exhaust, you won't see a leak inside the boat. Hopefully it's just a hose leaking. You need to get to the bottom of it and fix it.
As far as engine smoking, assuming from the exhaust? Or is it that leaking PS fluid getting on something hot had smoking from the engine itself? I will say, these older Mercs - the 3.0 and 4.3 (like I had in my SR) usually have the 2bbl Mercarb which is known to be set a little rich. The will smoke some at idle, you might even see some fuel rainbow in the exhaust. My 4.3 smoked like cheech and chong on a cold start with the choke set. Blue smoke is oil burning, white smoke is water/antifreeze. White smoke can be bad (ie headgasket) or it could just be vapor from hot exhaust water mixing with cooler seawater. Grey/fuel smelling smoke is a rich running engine and not necessarily bad and common for the Mercarb engines. Blue is burning oil and again, if it is not excessive is probably just an older engine starting show it's age and some wear. Smoke can be tricky, but in general a LOT of smoke is not good, a little bit could just be an old engine. On a 26yr old boat, unless it starts really using oil, or the oil becomes milky or it is really smoking a lot, I just would not worry too much as long as it is running ok. Even halfway taken care of, that GM 3.0 is a solid motor that should run a long time.
 
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