mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

[09zkrankin]

i have a 5.7 liter mercuiser in my 1993 baja isalnder 180, i just boght this boat and have had it out about 3 times. the first two times everything went great, but the last time i was out i noticed the engine was smoking a little at idle after running quite a ways up the lake and back. i found this odd because the engine is supposed to be a new motor, about 5 hours when i bought it, and prob no more than 10 now. when i opened the engine compartment there was a fine spray of oil all over everything. my first thought was pcv valve but after looking it appears to just have 2 vents. it is showing a little low on oil but nothing extreme and it does not appear to be milky. any ideas on where to start with this issue? i looked everywhere and cannot find an oil leak and have not had a chance to get it out watch while it was running. sorry for the long winded post just trying to make sure all the info is there. btw this is a carb'd motor. the guy i bought it off of said that he had his boat mechanic winterize it last year, but he only used it once after replacing the motor so he doesnt know much ab it. also it seemed that my oil pressure dropped some when i notced this problem, around 30 psi or so running up the lake around 3500 rpms. any help would be greatly appreciated thanks, zack

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

Start it up and watch it, that's how you find leaks.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

Like Don said . . . my first thought would be the hoses going to the remote oil filter, if you have got that sort of thing. . .

Add some oil to get you up to the full range, if you have not already done so.

 

[achris]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

My first though was 'why is he selling with a near new engine'?.... Me smells something fishy, and it ain't fish!

 

[09zkrankin]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

I started I this morning and watche for any leaks and could not find any, let it run for about 10 minutes. Saw a little smoke when revving but that's it.

The guy I bought this boat of of is a friend. He bought it with the block cracked in it due to lack of winterization. It had a 4.3 in it and he had his boat mechanic swap it out for a new 350. He brought it home and ran it one time when he realized it was too small for his family so he went and bought a bigger one. This problem is driving me crazy. It's almost like its leaking close to the belts somewhere and the belts have slug oil on everything

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

Remove the engine cover from the boat, and put the boat in the water and take it for a run and see what happens under load.

 

[09zkrankin]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

Okay I will try that. Is there something you are expecting I'll see when I do this? It will Probly be next weekend before I can get it in the water. May be able to go out sunday but I'm not sure

 

[09zkrankin]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

Yes, both of the vent hoses coming off of the valve covers are in place next to the spark arrestor. I cleaned the spark arrestor this morning as well as degreasing the entire engine. Are there any specific break in procedures I should be aware of? I'm assuming it still has break in oil and stuff in it

 

[Failproof]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

When you degreased it, was there any more oil in one place or another? If it looks like its being thrown by the belts, look around the front oil pan, timing cover, harmonic balancer seal, and of course the p/s pump seals and hoses.

 

[09zkrankin]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

it seemed like the oil was dispersed pretty evenly. i looked all around the front of the motor and could not see anywhere that looked like it was leaking, going to go look at it some more tomorrow, and as soon as i can get it to the lake im gonna check it out under load. what type of oil does everyone recommend for these engines? i know that merc says to use only theirs but just wondered what everyone else uses. im going to go ahead and change the oil before i take it to the lake, im holding out faith that maybe the combo of thin break in oil and blowby is my culprit

 

[tpenfield]

Re: mercruiser 5.7 liter oil sparying?

Mercruiser always says to use their maintenance products . . . you really do not have to.

Everyone probably has different recommendations for oil. You should refer to a maintenance manual for the engine to be sure. However, I tend to use a quality, name-brand 10W-40 oil.