OIL IN BILGE

larglo · Post by **larglo** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 10:27 am

Hi all,

I would like to ask, if it is normal to see some oil, mixed with water in the bilge area?

I assume it's coming from the engine, but is it natural for this to occur?

Thanks,

Larry

sehord · Post by **sehord** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 10:54 am

it is natural, but not nice to the environment and makes for a messy engine room. Take a look around your engine room and look for obvious leaks. Some are easy to spot and some are not. If your can't pin point it, get some engine degreaser, wash down the engine and clean the bilge well, then set some oil pads beneath the engine and let her run. Look for oil signs and you'll know if it is a simple valve cover gasket, oil fitler or whatever. The big thing with boat engines are people always saying, it was running fine then it just broke.... well it is talking to you now and telling you something is wrong, so take a look. A little Preventative maintenance now may save your hide down the road. It could be a oil hose about to burst or cracked pipe which may cause a full failure later. Most liekly it is just nussance leaks, but find out now instead of when you are 50 miles from port

9rock · Post by **9rock** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 4:25 pm

i am going thru this now starboard engine was leaking bad i replaced the valve covers and that slowed most of it , still got small leaks to find on both engines ,

i put in pads and also been putting soap in bilge for disbursement and in the water when the bilge runs

9

rooferdave · Post by **rooferdave** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 7:23 pm

keep an eye on your bilge pumps, when they suck up old oil it builds up inside and can jam it. I took mine out last week and it was getting pretty grim, took it out and took it apart, cleaned it with diesel and a paint brush and put it back in.

k9th · Post by **k9th** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:00 pm

Oil leaks are never a good thing and usually a warning that something needs your attention. I have found that as my engines age, they tend to develop a few more nuisance leaks.

What has been posted already is a good plan with the pads in the bilge. That will help localize the problem and give you a good sense of the cause, location, and severity of the problem.

Hopefully it is nothing serious.

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:44 pm

Is the oil in the bilge a new thing, or has it been there a long time?

When I first got my vessel, I hauled out the genny and holding tank to get better access to a section of bilge that I couldn't get under to clean. When I started, there were years of oil, grease, leaves, you name it down there. It makes for a smelly boat, and it`s very bad for the environment when the bilge pump discharges it overboard. But I got it all spick and span, not an easy task in a wooden boat.

My point is that if you start out with a clean bilge, and pads under the engines, you`ll be on top of any leaks that pop up, and you stand a better chance of knowing where they`re coming from. And it`s better for the environment.

Inevitably you will get some oil drips from an engine. But if you already have so much oil in the bilge that you can`t tell when you have a drip or a stream, you could end up with a major failure.

aweimer · Post by **aweimer** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:33 pm

Get a biosok. Works well. I have mine at one of the flow throughs up front by the bilge pump and also one in the back at the rear bilge pump.

I don't have any bad oil leaks but did make a small mess this spring and figured for the little it costs it was worth it to save the environment and keep the port authority off my back.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=10441

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:17 am

gat a roll of white paper towels and start tracing the leak from the bottom up.

RWS

larglo · Post by **larglo** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 7:45 pm

Actually, this oil was in the bilge when I bought the boat a year ago. It's a one owner, bought in Florida.

I didn't know beans about a boat when I got it, and it was later when I first discovered it. I got some of it out using a wet/dry vac and hope to give it a good cleaning later.
I was just wondering if this is more or less par for the course, considering the fact, there no place for dripping oil to go. It may be that the whole 30 years the first owner had it,,,he never cleaned it?

Larry

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 7:56 pm

hey Larry shut the pumps down use some Dawn and hot water and clean her up and use a wet vac to suck it out and you'll be good to go.

turtlem1969 · Post by **turtlem1969** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:57 pm

Another place to look is the bottom of the oil pan, could have some small pin holes in it, have had that happen before on another boat.