Marine: Boating, Sailing, PWC, GPS and Navigation - oil leak
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jethrobodine
07-06-08, 06:35 PM
Oil leaked out of engine into the bilge on a 1997 proline, 5.7 liter volvo penta engine. This happened while operating the boat. Approx 3 quarts leaked out in a few hours.
Where do I check for leaks.?
Jethro
Where do I check for leaks.?
Jethro
thezster
07-06-08, 07:14 PM
Wow - that's a bunch!!!
First thing is to confirm it's motor oil and not transmission oil (mixed with water in the bilge, it's easy to mistake the two). I assume you already checked the engine oil level to confirm that's the issue.
Next - 3 quarts in a few hours is a huge leak - and should be relatively obvious when you look over the engine thoroughly with a flashlight and bodily contortions. Start with the drain plug, which can come loose - or, as is the case with many boat engines of that size, the oil drain tube (attached to the oil pan and potentially cracked/open). Make sure the oil filter is secure and all the hoses to/from it are not cracked/loose.
Barring finding any obvious problem areas - fill the engine back up with oil - turn it on - and do your flashlight check again with the engine running.
BTW - I just love your cousin... had a crush on her since I was 14
First thing is to confirm it's motor oil and not transmission oil (mixed with water in the bilge, it's easy to mistake the two). I assume you already checked the engine oil level to confirm that's the issue.
Next - 3 quarts in a few hours is a huge leak - and should be relatively obvious when you look over the engine thoroughly with a flashlight and bodily contortions. Start with the drain plug, which can come loose - or, as is the case with many boat engines of that size, the oil drain tube (attached to the oil pan and potentially cracked/open). Make sure the oil filter is secure and all the hoses to/from it are not cracked/loose.
Barring finding any obvious problem areas - fill the engine back up with oil - turn it on - and do your flashlight check again with the engine running.
BTW - I just love your cousin... had a crush on her since I was 14
jethrobodine
07-07-08, 11:15 PM
I'll put oil in it and fire it up and check for leaks. What are the chances that the motor has to be pulled?
Jethro
Jethro
thezster
07-08-08, 06:23 AM
Offhand, I'd say chances are pretty good that you're going to have to access the bottom of the engine. That's an awful lot of oil loss in a short amount of time. A leak on the top end would have been fairly obvious with smoke/smell due to hot oil burning on the exhaust manifolds.... meaning the leak is more than likely down low. Won't know till you identify the problem area... you might get lucky!! Let us know how it goes...
jethrobodine
07-18-08, 07:51 PM
I put some oil in today and used a mirror to look for leaks. Sure enough, it was dripping pretty good at the oil pan plug.
There is also a fitting that has the oil dipstick tube attached to it, hope that is not the leak because it looks harder to fix.
Tomorrow I'm going to take out the oil pan plug, check it for cracking and check the plug gasket, install new plug gasket and add oil and see what happens.
There is also a fitting that has the oil dipstick tube attached to it, hope that is not the leak because it looks harder to fix.
Tomorrow I'm going to take out the oil pan plug, check it for cracking and check the plug gasket, install new plug gasket and add oil and see what happens.