...BEFORE you run your engine. For any length of time. No matter what.
Last time out boating, I noticed just the smallest puddle of oil on the floor of the bilge before launching. I attributed it to the breather that likes to come off the top of my 3.0 MerCruiser by the air filter and drip some oil from there. Dried it up, pulled the dipstick found the level right where it should be, and went on my way. Ran the boat for maybe 45 minutes that day - short trip out to the Lake Michigan, chill for the day, motor back to the launch.
That was just over a month ago. Today, I went to winterize it. Since the boat is for sale, I wanted to make sure I did things right (as always) so as to not have any suprises in the Spring. I planned on putting in the Sta-Bil, replacing the spark plugs, warming up the engine for a few minutes, fogging, changing oil, and winterizing the block. On went the muffs, then crank the engine. No oil checking this time. "Eh, it's just going to run for 10 minutes. Why bother?" It took some cranking, since the engine hasn't been run in a month. Probably a good thing that it did. Engine started, and I anxiously awaited with my hand on the ignition for the oil gauge to show some pressure, which it did after about 2 or 3 seconds of running. It fluttered a little after about 10 seconds of 1300 RPM, but it didn't dawn on me that there might be a problem for another minute or two.
Hmmmmmmmm.......
Figured it was because I fouled a plug while cranking, so it wasn't running real well. No problem, brand new plugs in my hand. Remove doghouse cover to change them. Nearly pass out. ALMOST A QUART OF OIL IN THE BILGE!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE #$@!^&$#$%#$#$^%??????!!!!!!!!
Turns out the oil filter loosened up. It was that simple. Now I decide check the oil. Level is just over half way between the end of the stick and the "ADD" line. I convinced myself that everything was OK, since there was so much oil on the stick, I had oil pressure the whole time, and it didn't run that long. I also figured most of the oil was there just from dripping out while in storage. It was pretty well pooled, not sprayed everywhere.
The moral of the story: If I had checked the oil before cranking it up, I would have seen the mass of oil down in the bilge and figured it out before anything. I sure am glad I didn't run it any longer last time out... the filter could have loosened up even more, thus losing all oil pressure. It for sure would have been good-bye engine.
Last time out boating, I noticed just the smallest puddle of oil on the floor of the bilge before launching. I attributed it to the breather that likes to come off the top of my 3.0 MerCruiser by the air filter and drip some oil from there. Dried it up, pulled the dipstick found the level right where it should be, and went on my way. Ran the boat for maybe 45 minutes that day - short trip out to the Lake Michigan, chill for the day, motor back to the launch.
That was just over a month ago. Today, I went to winterize it. Since the boat is for sale, I wanted to make sure I did things right (as always) so as to not have any suprises in the Spring. I planned on putting in the Sta-Bil, replacing the spark plugs, warming up the engine for a few minutes, fogging, changing oil, and winterizing the block. On went the muffs, then crank the engine. No oil checking this time. "Eh, it's just going to run for 10 minutes. Why bother?" It took some cranking, since the engine hasn't been run in a month. Probably a good thing that it did. Engine started, and I anxiously awaited with my hand on the ignition for the oil gauge to show some pressure, which it did after about 2 or 3 seconds of running. It fluttered a little after about 10 seconds of 1300 RPM, but it didn't dawn on me that there might be a problem for another minute or two.
Hmmmmmmmm.......
Figured it was because I fouled a plug while cranking, so it wasn't running real well. No problem, brand new plugs in my hand. Remove doghouse cover to change them. Nearly pass out. ALMOST A QUART OF OIL IN THE BILGE!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE #$@!^&$#$%#$#$^%??????!!!!!!!!
Turns out the oil filter loosened up. It was that simple. Now I decide check the oil. Level is just over half way between the end of the stick and the "ADD" line. I convinced myself that everything was OK, since there was so much oil on the stick, I had oil pressure the whole time, and it didn't run that long. I also figured most of the oil was there just from dripping out while in storage. It was pretty well pooled, not sprayed everywhere.
The moral of the story: If I had checked the oil before cranking it up, I would have seen the mass of oil down in the bilge and figured it out before anything. I sure am glad I didn't run it any longer last time out... the filter could have loosened up even more, thus losing all oil pressure. It for sure would have been good-bye engine.
