OIl leak?

Marcdohc

Hello all, I have an oil leak dripping from under my 2005 5.0 Mercruiser MPI it almost looks like its coming from the front area of the pan and dripping straight down but the pan itself is dry. Is there a common area or item that leaks in that area? I've looked everywhere and cant pin poiunt where its coming from. Oh ya, it only leaks when it runs. What do you think? Thanks, Marcdohc

212rowboat

Front pan seal.. they're often one piece with the pan gasket, but sometimes they are like a intake manifold gasket, and use a dowel gasket in that area.. I dunno how merc does it for certain.. at any rate, it's no big deal on a car, but in a boat??? That area, by the way, has no real pressure, so what you're seeing is splash... The question I'd ask is if it is the front crank seal, hidden under the front cover/ timing chain cover.. it would look like near the same thing, and with your coolant not being trapped as it would be with a radiator and degas bottle, it would be hard to tell..

How much patience do you have?

Taking the pan off is a matter of minutes on a stand.. prepping and new gasket another matter of minutes.. it would likely take at least two hours to get engine to a stand...

Leaving it mounted, and you'd only need it to drop a couple inches at most, it would likely take a couple hours to get it off, half an hour to prep, and another two hours to install... But, you could do it yourself and not have to pay a lot of labor costs..

Hint to making it easier: use fishing line to align and hold the gasket to the pan while trying to install.

aero3113

Get a mirror and see if you can see exactly where it is. Last season I had a drip coming from my pan and it turned out to be corrosion that caused some pin holes. When the oil heated up while running the leak was worse.

TikiHut2

I'd hope that Drew is right on it, and he probably is.

After Aero posted his oil pan leak issue last year I went looking at mine. Here's what I found....and the fix. I caught mine before it failed along with a mandatory engine pull. A host of cell phone pics to check my work, a dremel with a wire brush head, some pretzel time in the engine compartment and some rustoleum saved mine. Hope it's an easy fix for you.

JoeStang

Tiki it'd be cool to see an update of how the repair looks a year or so later now.

Cableguy Greg

Tiki, I bet that was 'fun' to do while upside down in the engine room. Ugh...

TikiHut2

CG, I cleared a spot to lay on my side and kept everything I needed close so I didn't have to get up/down. It was a great save and well worth the cramps n bruises rather than pulling the engine.... or worse.

JS, I've been wondering too. Ill ck and post an update.

Marcdohc

Nothing like saving your money, Regarding my leak, I have physicly been under the engine with lights mirrors and touch and I finally have come up with the area the leak is coming from. It looks like its the dipstick seal although the fuel filter housing will have to be removed to be sure. Is there something else you think it may be in that area? Thanks, Marcdohc