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Light Oily Residue in Bilge


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2011 LCR. End of last season I had a devil of time getting the oil filter off the mounting. Tried everything save piercing the canister and torquing it off. When I took the boat into the dealership they removed the housing from the boat and put it on a bench and torqued it off, reinstalled. Next time out on the boat I noticed an oily residue in the bilge. Took the boat back into the dealership to have it checked out. Mechanic cleaned the bilge and then laid down towels all over the place to look for leak, and also ran the engine at different RPM ranges to check for any leaks. ATF seals are tight, you can hear them decompress when you crack the seal. Mechanic indicated that the engine was dry as a whistle (zero leaks), but said when they took the lines off and worked on the filter it was possible that oil was spilled into the bilge. It was the end of season, and the bilge was clean and dry as a whistle when I put the boat up for the winter.

Went out today for a couple of hours and noticed that the light oily film was back. I am perplexed on what to do at this point. I guess it is possible that the first time I went out after re-install that the oil/residue traveled under the gas tank and is still not fully cleaned out. I wonder if I should clean it out further by filling with water/detergent, driving around, then draining again.

Any thoughts about this issue? Similar experiences?

Edited by Sride
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That's what I think I'd do... put some detergent in there and 5 gallons of water, then go out for the day. Drain and rinse afterwards and let it totally dry, then check again. Could be that the oil is coming from way up in the front of the boat from when it leaked, and then the shop just rinsed and washed the rear of the bilge?

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I agree with Shaun. I use watered down dish soap for boot lube and about every other weekend I will shoot some into the bilge about mid day just to let it slosh around to help keep everything clean. Anything left after I pull out gets sucked out with the shop vac!

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Sride-

I had the Same thing in my 2011 Wakesetter. Filthy black residue...hard to get off, my center T hand drain plug was coated ... I think it is form that final black coating they put on the inside on the hull.

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Thanks for the input. Tomorrow I am going to get a bright lamp and some paper towels and take a closer look at everything again. If its a leak it's small, and it may only develop at high RPM. I did run WOT today for about 5 minutes. All I can say is that this type of fluid (whatever it is) did not occur in prior years until the oil filter debacle. Perhaps I'm expecting the bilge to be too clean! :)

Edited by Sride
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I had a very small leak from the oil pressure sending unit and associates plumbing. Looked for about three months before I was able to find it. Finally found it early one morning when the motor was covered in condinsation, looked like some one spilled a drop of chocolate milk on the block next to the sensor. I used laundry detergent to clean up the bildge.

good luck and let us know the outcome

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Light...oily....and pink. Not a good sign. From what I can tell its probably not coming from the bell housing but farther forward. Sounds like a transmission seal is starting to fail, at 90 hours. Fluid levels all seem to be in good shape. :mad:

Edited by Sride
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It could also be from a sloppy 50 hr VD ATF change. A seal leak is possible, but unlikely this early. If it is leaking it is more than likely coming from as you suggested the breather but could be the output shaft seal. Easy enough to check just give it a reach under and a wipe. My money is on a sloppy oil change.

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Just remembered after seeing you had the LCR. If it has the Walters VD which I'm guessing it does, check the 4x 9/16 nuts on the bottom of the VD sump pan. On my old boat all four were loose and wouldn't drip but weep which made it hard to find at first. Good luck.

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The 2011 has the ZF Hurth v-drive setup. I have wiped back around the output drive shaft and it always seems to be clean. Most of the fluid seems to come from around here, hard to tell. Will post when I find out more. I am will you WDR, the fluid levels look very high to me. I'll post an update when I have more information.

image_url-17305-1364270541.jpg

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Thanks Bill, I was not aware of this until your message and further review of the ZF manual. Causes of fluid on housing are listed as loose screws, loose screw connections, loose dipstick, loose fluid filter, fluid level high during operation, and "unknown".

Dropped the boat off today. Fingers crossed.

Edited by Sride
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They couldn't water test it for you? Lame...

Shop rate is usually around 100-125 per hour. or spend a day ridding. Your choice. For anything major then yes I would expect them to water test but for a small leak that is being this hard to find it may take a few hours of operation for the leak to show it self I really would not want to see the bill for that.

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I'd rather run it on the lake then have them haul it out there and test it. This way I can get a good couple of runs in and the dye will expose the leak. Yes, its more work on my part but also less time the boat is in somebody elses hands.

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For me it takes the same amount of time to run it on the fake a lake as it does to take it to the water and water test it to see if I can find a leak. How far away is the closest body of water? Recently a customer brought in a boat, he had been fighting a small oil leak for 3 years. Turns out one of the oil lines under the 6.0L motor needed to be tightened. I hope yours is something simple.

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Dish soap in the bilge and steering cables are a bad combo! It doesn't take much to ruin the grease that keeps the water out of the cable housing.

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  • 9 months later...

Old thread, revived. Dye and UV light revealed transmission leak (small, but none-the-less a leak) around the housing where I took the picture in old post. Boat goes in the shop at the end of January for new transmission gaskets. The leak was not in the vDrive unit. None too happy, but alas, it is a mechanical piece of equipment. Warranty still in effect.

Edited by Sride
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