Oil leak

[1132MM]

I have a 2004 280 with twin 4.3l. I went to start the port motor today, and it started right up and ran great. About 3 minutes into the engine running I noticed engine oil pouring out of the bilge drain plug all over the driveway. No warnings came on. I checked the dip stick and it was completely dry. It looks like I lost all the engine oil. When I opened the engine hatch there was oil splattered on the inside of the top of the hatch as well as the port side of the engine compartment. I hope it’s an oil line and not the oil pan. Anyone experience anything like this, or have any suggestions?

 

[Espos4]

CHeck for a double gasket on the oil filter.

 

[1132MM]

Will do! Thanks!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Very unlikely to be your pan - that wouldn't spatter the way it did - it would just leak out and down. In addition to the filter... Who changed the oil last? Did they put the cap back on?

If you don't readily see the leak spot, fill it back up and start the engine back up and observe. A leak of the intensity you are saying will be very easy to spot.

 

[fwebster]

We see this happen a couple of times every year. This might not be your issue but check the timing cover on the front of the engine. Mercruiser paints the engines after the water pump is installed. That makes it nearly impossible to get paint on the timing cover. In a saltwater environment like we have the surface of the timing cover hidden behind the water pump will rust and a few years of rusting will eventually perforate the timing cover which is just stamped steel. when that happens, oil will leak from the holes and run down t he outside of the timing cover and will eventually get slung all over the place by the pulls and accessory drive belts.

Hope that is all it is........$30 timing cover, $10 gasket and a new water pump (you will have to remove the old water pump to get to the timing cover, so you will already be doing the "remove and replace" part of a new water pump, so why not just replace it since you are already doing all the labor for a replacement while you are replacing the timing cover.

 

[1132MM]

Good idea. I did the oil change. The cap is on, but I have to check the oil filter for the double gasket like Espos4 mentioned above. Thanks for the replies!

 

[1132MM]

And I will check the timing cover as well. Thanks again!

 

[scoflaw]

Clean everything up real good, and then pay close attention to the source

 

[Wanderer 290]

An oil leak that large will probably result in no oil pressure and lack of lubrication to internal engine parts. If at all possible identify and repair the problem before the engine is run.
Check the oil lines to the remote filter mount, especially at the points of crimping.

 

[1132MM]

Thanks again for all the replies! It turns out Espos4 was correct in the above post. I left the old gasket on from the previous filter resulting in a double gasket. I removed the old gasket. No leaks. Just hope I didn’t do any internal damage. After correcting the problem I ran the engine for about 15 minutes without any issues.

 

[Espos4]

Good news.

 

[Danny Troy]

I did the same on a car years ago. Luckily no damage, even after a 20 minute drive to work and back home. I must have left a trail the whole way there. I had been using Mobil 1, so maybe that helped. Put many thousands of miles on that car after that incident, and it wasn't affected at all by the loss of oil. BTW, I did an oil change on my V10 RV a few months ago, and sure enough the original gasket remained on the engine. After that first incident, I always double check for that when changing filters. Funny how it causes such a drastic loss of oil so quickly.

 

[1132MM]

Sure did!