90 Saltare (454) oil leak

[zwhitston]

I'm losing maybe 1/4 of quart per 4hr set of wakeboarding. It's going into the bilge and making a mess. Valve cover, oil pan, and everything else looks very clean. The only thing I can come up with is the drain hose on the pan. I can get a hand on the fitting but am not sure how to get a wrench on it. Can I replace this with a standard drain plug. Any (inexpensive) recommendations.

[sybrmike]

There was a thread on this a month or so ago. General consensus among us Salts is that you're gonna have to raise the motor to work around that drain plug. Maybe just unbolting the coupling and jacking the motor up on the mounts (what I did to replace the crimp ring on the drain hose fitting), or hoisting the engine. Yea, it's a standard drain plug thread, but you'll be pumping through the dipstick from now on (which many do anyways).

[docdrs]

I'm losing maybe 1/4 of quart per 4hr set of wakeboarding. It's going into the bilge and making a mess. Valve cover, oil pan, and everything else looks very clean. The only thing I can come up with is the drain hose on the pan. I can get a hand on the fitting but am not sure how to get a wrench on it. Can I replace this with a standard drain plug. Any (inexpensive) recommendations.

I would make sure thats where its leaking. Is this something new since your last oil change? I'm sure you checked your oil filter for leaks. How many hours on the motor? what is the compression in all the cylinders?

[zwhitston]

I did check the oil filter for leaks. 811 hrs on the motor. Not sure of the compression but I've put 15 some odd hrs on the boat since it has been leaking and it has run very well. My next step will be looking into jacking up the motor. I will search past threads- not sure what is involved in this- do you need to remove prop shaft, exhaust, etc.?

[bdumas35]

The rear crankshaft seal and/or timing cover seals are potential areas of leakage. Lucky it would be if it's the timing cover area. No pully the motor.

Clean the best you can and use mirror in the suspect areas.

Good luck.

[cadunkle]

I have an '89 Saltare with 454 and an oil leak though not nearly as bad as yours. Top of motor is clean and dry with typical valve cover, intake china wall, timing cover, and front main areas dry as well. I have a feeling it's that drain hose on the pan but no room to get at it. My tentative plan is to just pull the motor this winter and inspect for leaks. If it looks like rear main I'll do that and inspect bearings while I'm there but I have a feeling I'll just be cleaning up the motor and replacing the drain hose with a regular oil plug. I use an extractor in the dipstick to change my oil. Mine makes a mess in the bilge but level really hasn't dropped. It's just enough to make a mess when a little water gets in and sloshes around.

[wotan2525]

If you're pulling the engine, do the oil pan gasket and a new rear main seal at the same time. They probably both leak a little, anyway.

I did this while laying under the engine in the bilge. The engine was hoisted up as high as possible... not high to clear the gunnels but high enough to kill me if it fell.

[lively]

what i would do is put some card board under the length of the motor and drive and let it sit and inspect for leakage , its hard to tell exactly where its leaking when the bilge is wet , with the card board it will give you that tell -tell sign of the general area that its leaking ... and i second what wotan said .. if in fact you do pull the motor , oil pan , valve cover , rear main and front main seals ... get the felpro green gaskets , not cork ! with cork gaskets you will always be tightening down to seal ... permatex dont hurt either ... good luck

[cadunkle]

Good point, probably prudent to replace oil pan gasket and front/rear mains anyhow. Motor was rebuild in 2007 but still pulling it is the hassle, not replacing gaskets and seals. Good time to check main and rod bearings too just to be safe. Oil pressure is great but never hurts to be proactive.

[zwhitston]

I appreciate everyones advice. So I got the drain plug out without pulling the motor. After talking to three shops who said I needed to pull it, I felt like I had enough opposition to motivate myself. I cut the hose as close to the L fitting on the drain hole as I could. Then I placed a punch in the drain hose to create leverage. A couple of strong pulls and it broke free. I have since replaced it with a drain plug. The drain plug did not thread correctly so I think I have found my culprit. The leaking has slowed down though to buy me a little more time on the water before I will pull the motor and try to retap the drain hole or replace the pan. But for everyone else with this leak=- it is possible to replace the drain hose without pulling the motor.