I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

[bucknutjoe]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

I'm about to test the compression, I'll have that info on here when I get it.

Question about the flywheel cover and that little hole. Should I leave that entire cover off until I find and fix the issue? When I do reinstall the cover, would you guys say to fill that hole with JB Weld, or leave the hole alone?

Thanks!

 

[oops!]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

forget the pin hole....that is a safety cover for the flywheel........not an oil sealing cover.

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

You know the comercial with the cranberry drink that they are stading in. I think they say Hidden Valley Lake. Lol!

When you do the compresion test pull the coil wire off so the boat wont start. Then test each cyclinder one at a time and note the pressure.

 

[MSRTBUDWISER]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

Hey Bud,
Do I need to have the boat hooked up to rabbit ears when I do this, or no since I'm not actually going to run the engine?

For the compression test, I would say no. You are not running the engine. All of the spark plugs will be removed and you will just be turning the motor over with the starter. Maybe 2 revolutions per cylinder.

 

[bucknutjoe]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

Two questions:
If the plugs are removed, do I need to remove the coil? If so, I don't know what/where that is.

I got the starter removed to check for water, it isn't full of water; however the bolts, especially the one towards the middle with the elongated head came out covered in oily water droplets. What is that telling me?

 

[thumpar]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

Just remove the wire that runs from the middle of the distributor to the coil. It looks like a spark plug wire but short.

 

[MSRTBUDWISER]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

Two questions:
If the plugs are removed, do I need to remove the coil? If so, I don't know what/where that is.

I got the starter removed to check for water, it isn't full of water; however the bolts, especially the one towards the middle with the elongated head came out covered in oily water droplets. What is that telling me?

You do not need to remove anything other than the spark plugs for the compression test. Just pull all of them, and get your compression gauge from autozone. Then get a piece of paper to mark your results. Start on one side and move from front to back, then go to the other. Screw the gauge into the spark plug threads (it only needs to be finger tight because there's an o-ring that seals it.) Mark your readings and let us know!

As for the oily water, it is probably just residual from whats left from the original post. Is it running down the backside of the bell housing cover (black metal cover that the starter goes up against) or is it coming from inside that cover?

 

[bucknutjoe]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

I do remember that cranberry commercial now that you mention it, and yes, I do think they say Hidden Valley. Funny thing is that you and I live close to each other! Are you familiar with Hidden Valley Lake?

 

[bucknutjoe]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

OK, here are compression results... I don't know if this is the proper numbering sequence to the cylinders, but I called the cylinder closest to the bow of the boat #1 and counted back towards the stern being #4. I actually did the test three times. I don't have an oil can, so I thought I couldn't really do a "wet" test, because I didn't have a good way to get oil into the cylinders without dumping more than I needed and spilling all over the place. Halfway through the second test I thought of using a straw to suck up a little oil into it, and then let it run into the spark plug opening by releasing the seal of my tongue.

First dry test: 112 - 119 - 114 - 128
Second dry test: 125 - 124 - 127 - 130
Wet test: 131 - 136 - 141 - 142

When I ran the engine to warm it up, I noticed a few things. First, and most important, the oil in the engine looks pretty clean after two full flushes. Two minutes into the engine running at idle, I noticed a small puddle of clean oil collected in the housing of the flywheel. I let it run for another 10 minutes or so and it didn't really seem to change, and I didn't see any oil anywhere else. I then increased the rpms to about 1500 for a couple minutes, and didn't see a change, the increased to 3000 for about 1 minute. At 3000 is where I found the contaminated oil leaking earlier in the post. This time, I didn't see anything.

Anyone see something I missed, or am I good to do my final oil change here, putting in the "good stuff" and consider myself lucky? Of course, sometime very soon I need to get the auto bilge installed

 

[stonyloam]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

Strictly my opinion. The compression numbers look fine. Sounds like you have a leaky rear seal in the engine, and someone drilled the hole to drain out the oil that leaked. That is not your main concern, the source of the milky oil is. So what I (being a shade tree mechanic) would do is clean out that hole and place a container under it, change the oil and run it. Monitor how much oil leaks out, and keep an eye on your the engine oil for water. If the oil stays clean, and not too much leaks, run it and think about having the seal replaced in the off season. If the oil turns milky again, your block is probably cracked and you will need a new engine. Keeping fingers crossed, good luck.

edit: been thinking about this, and if your rear main seal is indeed bad, and it looks that way, and since the seal is designed to keep oil in, not water out, that may be where the water got into the oil, especially if that seal sat underwater for a few days. You may just be OK. Time will tell

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

Bucknutjoe, Yea we do live close to each other. One of my daughters softball teammates has a house on your lake.

I would coinclide with Stonyloam, you may be lucky and it does sound like the water came in the rear main seal. Just change the oil and keep an eye on it.

Good luck!!!!

 

[thedillybar]

Re: I was wrong, found milky oil leaking now in my merc 3.0. Now what is going on!?!?

You do not need to remove anything other than the spark plugs for the compression test.

The manual suggests grounding the high-tension lead (which connects the coil to distributor). You don't want fuel coming out the plug holes & sparks coming from the plug wires to the closest ground.

I have also heard this can be hard on the coil...not sure about that though.