Small oil leak from one engine

[wakeformer]

So I brought the boat out of winter storage and was removing all my winter storing items like dryer sheets and moth balls when I noticed a small amount of oil on the engine floor under one of my engines oil filter. The engine oil level is good so I know it was not a lot of oil. Before I winterized her I changed the oil and really clean the heck out of the engine bay wiping down every part of my engine. I stuck my head under the engine ( NOT EASY TO DO) and could not see where the oil was coming from. I took a clean rag and ran it along the bottom of the engine and got a little bit of resisude by the oil pan. I store my boat in a heated garage under a covers for the winter so she was not exposed to any elements.

Thought I would ask you Yamaha boat experts what you might think it might be.

I have check my oil cooler and lines and they are clean. ( I read all the stories about he oil coolers)

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Boat Crazy]

My first suspect would be if the filter is tight. Are you using stock filters or after market? What engine do you have?

 

[wakeformer]

I am using Yamaha filters. I have done 2 oil changes on the boat thus far and this is the first time this was an issues. I hand tighten the oil filter then gave it a 1/4 turn with the wrench. I have the MR1 Engine

 

[Boat Crazy]

Others have had this occur with minor drips coming from the oil pan gasket but because it is just minor just have to wipe it clean periodically. Not saying that is what it is. Hopefully a few of them will chime in. Not sure if the extreme long temperatures this winter would cause enough expansion and contraction to cause this.

 

[marc7]

@wakeformer what type of oil are you using?

 

[wakeformer]

royal purple 10w20

 

[steined]

royal purple 10w20

Are you sure it is 10w20 and not 10W40?

20 seems awfully thin for a high revving motor.

 

[wakeformer]

I might be wrong I will check my bottle when I get home

 

[marc7]

When I purchased my boat in August 2011 it had Yamalube running in it of which there were no signs of an oil leak. In 2012 I did my first oil change using Castrol GTX synthetic. By the end of the 2012 season I began to see a small amount of oil in the bilge. In 2013 I changed the oil to Mobile 1, of which by the end of the 2013 season I noticed I was wiping more oil from the bilge than in 2012. I am not losing that much oil from this leak, just enough to require a bilge wipe down every couple of weeks.
In short I believe (as was mentioned on the other "oil leak" thread), the use of Synthetic oil is a common factor.

Cheers!

 

[wakeformer]

So are you saying if I switch back to yamalube the leak will go away. What you are explaining is exactly what I think is happening. I looked at it last night and thee was no oil on the floor

 

[marc7]

No I believe the leak is what it is now and switching back would make no difference at this point. I was just trying to identify a common factor.

 

[tdonoughue]

Actually, switching back to at least hybrid may make a difference. The Dino oils wet the seals and cause them to expand. When you use synthetic, they dry a bit and cause small leaks. Re applying some Dino will cause the seals to re wet some. Never had the issue myself, but learned thusly from some fellow car buffs. They say start with synth and stay with it, because once you go Dino, pretty much no returning without some leak eventually.

Worth a try, you have to admit.

 

[ToddW850]

Myself and @itsdgm (and some others) have also had this issue. It is probably coming from the oil pan gasket like @Boat Crazy mentioned. Itsdgm was able to fix his by changing oil types. Mine is very very little so I'm not too worried about it at this point. I use 10W-40 oil.

One thing that might help you confirm this is to use a mehanic mirror and light to look under there. I've also used my cellphone to take pictures under there so I can see it.

 

[Tollus]

I'm having this issue too. Very minor but annoying. Plus you'll fail a spot check inspection if you have oil in your bilge. Argument can be made that it's not actually dripping into your bilge though.

My issue is, I think I'm going to sell the boat. Kind of hard to do with an oil drip. I think I lost about a table spoon of oil through the season. I'm going to replace the oil filters and tighten up the bolts on the oil pan and see if that does the trick.

Anyone know how hard it is to replace the gasket? I'm sure it's a major mess. Probably easier to pay someone I'd guess.

 

[Seadeals]

I also have the minor leakage and am using Mobile 1. It is a very small amount and I keep the compartment and engine bottom wiped down every trip to make sure it has not gotten any worse. Using iPod camera video I believe my issue is probably with the gaskets on the oil coolers (#23) as the oil pools on the bottom there before running forward, dripping and then running down into the floor. So far, it is not harming much if regularly checking oil levels; but I am curious about addressing my eight year old seals this winter. In the chance unmounting the engine is absolutely required, I want to do it before putting down all my new Seadek.

 

[itsdgm]

@Tollus & @Seadeals whichever route you guys decide to tackle this issue, please document it here on jetboaters.net. This is one of those annoying things that has been lingering for a lot of guys for years. Mine started when I changed my oil for the first time. I bought the boat used with very low hours and it was evident that I did the first oil change. I put synthetic oil in and noticed the leak. After reading about a lot of guys having issues I switched to a semi-synthetic oil and one of my engine oil leaks dried up. But to this day the other one still leaks.

It's the kind of thing that I would tackle if it was a simple gasket that could be fixed without pulling the engine. So the risk/gain would have to be in my favor.

Keep us posted on what you guys decide to do.

 

[Gym]

I have the same issue. I believe it is the synthetic oil not properly wetting the gaskets. I'm going to a semi synthetic this year and will go to the heavier 10w40 weight.

 

[Glassman]

I, too, have a small drip from one engine.
I fixed it with a paper towel.

 

[Seadeals]

In case I run out of paper towels, I lit up the engine compartment and used the iPhone/iPad FaceTime borescope to investigate. I found oil pooled/dripping from the forward starboard bolt head on the oil pan at #17 (MR1 engine). Wiped clean, and torqued the bolt a tad. I should have checked at #20 too in case it is just running downhill but so far no more oil. We'll see after I run her again. Not a big deal to wipe up a little oil; but bolts don't usually get tighter on their own so worth a quick look sometimes.