454 issue

tsawyer · Post by **tsawyer** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 5:20 pm

Took a little cruise Monday evening. Kid was driving and I wasn't paying too much attention to the gauges. I happened to take a peak to see my port temp gauge pegged over 240. I shut it down and looked below to find lots of coolant and oil in the bilge.

Mechanic comes out on Wednesday. Oil was only a quart low and coolant was all gone. He pressure tested the heat exchanger and found a faulty cap that was not holding pressure. He surmises it failed, dumped the coolant which cause overheating and oil loss through the dipstick.

He ran it at the dock for a couple hours with no problem.

I take her out today. Never get up past 2000 rpm. As I hit the ocean the buzzer goes off. Temp seems ok but oil pressure is gone.

I now have no oil on the dipstick (it's all in the bilge). Coolant levels are fine.

Any thoughts on what's going on here?

Tom

EM63 · Post by **EM63** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 6:14 pm

Sorry for that - looks like you'll have a bigger problem

--
Greetings - Heiner

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:48 pm

Yes you have a oil leak , you guy should have looked closer . First place I would look at is the oil lines to and from the filter and cooler and the oil filters them self . You may have to fill the oil and run it and look at it .but look first . I hope you did Not run it long with no pressure .

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:23 am

prowlersfish wrote:Yes you have a oil leak , you guy should have looked closer . First place I would look at is the oil lines to and from the filter and cooler and the oil filters them self . You may have to fill the oil and run it and look at it .but look first . I hope you did Not run it long with no pressure .

+1

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:40 am

Fill her up and run it at the dock again. If no leaks (as you mechanic says since he ran it at the dock for 2 hours), increase RPM a bit until the leak shows. Use white paper towels to feel around and fine the spray.

Be careful - spewing oil can cause a fire!

I suspect that you have a small leak that the mechanic missed. It was probably squirting out a small stream or mist .... like Paul said - could just be a hose!

1967 seavoyager · Post by **1967 seavoyager** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:24 pm

Sounds like a Head Gasket to me.

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:27 pm

1967 seavoyager wrote:Sounds like a Head Gasket to me.

Could be - let's hope not.

tsawyer · Post by **tsawyer** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 6:43 pm

Underside of oil filter is covered in oil.

I'm replacing that, filling it up and I'll hope it's something that easy.

It's always possible that the two issues are unrelated and just coincidental.

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:40 pm

Was there an oil change done recently? Seen a lot of guys spin on new filters and not realize the old seal is still attached to the housing....that would do it!

jefflaw35 · Post by **jefflaw35** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:21 pm

Big D wrote:Was there an oil change done recently? Seen a lot of guys spin on new filters and not realize the old seal is still attached to the housing....that would do it!

+1 done it to a car before, worth a simple feel or look for sure!

tsawyer · Post by **tsawyer** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:50 pm

New filter on and added a bunch of oil. At the dock it appears to be holding the oil and I don't see any leaks.

I'll have to take it out for a bit more of a cruise before I'm sure that was the problem.

Oil was not changed recently. I'm hoping the filter was my problem. I will keep a sharp eye on the temp and pressure as we take her out.

Any great ideas for getting all that oil out of my bilge? I've been burning up the oil pads and it's looking better but there is still a mess down there.

jefflaw35 · Post by **jefflaw35** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:59 pm

oh man, soak up as much as you can with cheap towels. then scrub. Oil is ruthless and just soaks into everthing. Kitty litter if its that bad? your still going to have bad stains. I feel for you. Oil is evil!!

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:51 am

DIAPERS

RWS

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:15 am

tsawyer wrote:New filter on and added a bunch of oil. At the dock it appears to be holding the oil and I don't see any leaks.

Did you run it up to full temp? Run it at 1,500-2,000 some (with someone else at the throttles)?

You can use a small oil transfer pump (I use one to change oil) to get the majority, then its soaking (like the diaper idea - may get some for re-fueling).

BobCT · Post by **BobCT** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:20 am

Tom - check the "U" cooler hoses that run back to the oil filter housing. I changed mine over the winter and they were hard as a rock. It could be the cooler itself but they normally don't have external failures and it would be easy to see.

The hoses are pretty hidden (more so on the port side) and might be ok until the pressure builds up.

Bob