3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

[Jwhit612]

I just bought a 98 Stingray 180 with the 3.0 liter Mercruiser. The boat is in incredible shape and the engine only has 154 hours on it. however, when I looked at the boat I noticed in the bottom of the boat, below the engine, there was a little bit of oil and water mixed. I asked about it and the guy said he thought that there was just a little oil down there from when he had changed the oil. However, I cleaned all that out after I bought it. I took it out on Monday and it ran fantastic, it really runs like a new boat. However, when I got it home I noticed a fair amount of oil mixed with water down below the engine again. I got suspicious and took a paper towel to the bottom of the oil pan. I didn't get a whole lot from the very bottom but there did seem to be some "wet" oil coming from where the oil pan connects to the block up towards the front.
I don't think it is a huge amount of oil leaking but don't want to damage anything either.
Do you think I need to take it to have it looked at right away or can I get by with monitoring the oil level for the remainder of the season and take it in at the end of the season?
Any suggestions on how I can test where it is coming from myself? I'm thinking I should just clean it up really good and then run it with the "ear muffs" on and see what I can see.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[dubs283]

Re: 3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

don't forget to check the oil level on the dipstick!!

yes, if you clean up everything very well, nice and dry and clean, top off the oil then run the engine on the muffs, you should be able to see where the leak is

some auto parts places sell dye kits that can be added to the oil to aid in locating leaks

 

[NHGuy]

Re: 3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

Clean it up well so you can evenually identify where it is from. Also go around the engine with sockets and wrenches and check for loose bolts. Don't crank the little ones just check em. Especially those that may hold in oil. You could have a power steering leak or a power trim oil leak too. Carefully monitor your engine oil level. Keep a couple of quarts of oil with you til you figure it out. And don't overfill the crankcase, just to the full mark that's it.
Once you have it clean start checking for oil on the motor and pumps with paper towels, eyes, hands, q tips, everything. You need it fixed. Depending on where you boat you could get sent home to fix it some day when the environmental check folks get a look at your boat. They are at ramps and town docks trying to keep out invasive species, but if you have a gooey bilge you'll likely get the heave ho. There would be a fear of you pumping out contaminated water from your boat.

 

[Jwhit612]

Re: 3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

Thanks so much guys. I'll get in there and clean it out and see what I can figure out. Bought some oil today to keep on hand.

 

[98Shabah]

Re: 3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

I've got a 1998 with a 3.0L, around 229 hours and mine is always a little damp too. Once in a while there will be an additional drip in the bilge. I honestly don't really worry about it, it's a 12 year old engine, a little wetness isn't out of the ordinary, it becomes a problem when it's noticeable on the dipstick.

Like one of the previous posters said, you can always check to make sure all the oil pan bolts and valve cover bolts are snug.. Who knows I may even do that when I winterize this year.

 

[tonyrocks]

Re: 3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

I'm no expert, but I have been dealing with an oil leak for the past season, and thought I'd mention a few things...

- when looking for the oil leak, mine would not appear until the engine was under load... meaning that I couldn't find it when on muffs... I had to be out on the water with my head/flashlight in the engine comp.

- when my leak was active, I was leaking considerable amounts of oil each use; I just made sure to top it up each time, and not use my bilge or remove my drain plug at the lake... I would take it home and drain into an oil pan and bring to an oil recycling facility; it was an annoying process, but shouldn't hurt anything


Good luck on finding that leak...

 

[Jwhit612]

Re: 3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

Ok, so I figured out where the oil leak is coming from but I fear it isn't good news. Turns out that it is dripping off of the bottom pully of the belt. Not sure what it does. There is some sort of cover behind all the pullys that seems to be rusted on the right side (as your looking at the front of the motor). In fact, I can push on the metal cover with my finger and feel that it is weak. Obviously, I need to change that cover along with the gaskets but have no idea what this entails.
So my questions are...
1. Is this something that I can put off or do I need to get it fixed immediately? I ran it at about 1200 RPM for about 5 minutes and got some pretty good dripping (you can see it in the pictures). I'm supposed to be taking a group to the lake on Saturday. Should I reschedule and get it fixed first?
2. Is this something I should try to tackle myself as an obvious novice or should I take it to the mechanic?
3. Any idea how much it should cost to fix it?

See pictures attached.

Thanks so much everyone! I really appreciate your input.

 

[1ruralmailman]

Re: 3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

that cover is the timing chain cover.it also contains the seal for the front of the crankshaft,which is what i would say is probably leaking.that said the cover is fairly thin ,but you shouldnt be able to move it by hand,so it may have rusted a hole in that too.there is a pretty good leak by the looks of things,and will only get worse with heat.bad news gets worse in that to change those parts engine at the least needs to be raised in the boat,but probably should come out to have the proper clearance to work on it.if you do want to run it this weekend,i would take at least two quarts of oil with me,and make sure not to dump the bilge,either with pump,or plug.

 

[Don S]

Re: 3.0 mercruiser leaking oil-- Ok to keep riding?

Time to bite the bullet, pull the engine, remove the vibration dampner, drop the pan, pull the timing cover and check for holes.
Holes come from rust, and by looking at your pictures, there isn't any rust on the pan which makes rust on the timing cover questionable. Of course, if you have a circ pump leaking on the timing cover, it wouldn't show on the pan.
No easy fix here. The engine has to come out to fix seal or hole. Might as well look for both while it's out.