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Water in oil in stern drive

noeldp

New member
"I noticed a small milky oil d

"I noticed a small milky oil drip from what appears to be a small air bleed pinhole (1/16 inch or so) just above and in front of the 3 water intake ports on the starboard side of my 89 OMC Cobra lower stern drive. There is a similar pinhole just below and behind the water intake ports. On draining the stern drive oil, it appeared milky (evidence of water getting in). A couple questions.
1. I assumed the pinhole leaking oil must have had a plug that came out, so I put in a very short sheetmetal screw with a rubber washer to seal it. Right thing to do?
2. I assumed the water got in through the pinhole while using the boat, then milky oil dripped back out on land. Should I be looking for another possible water leak? If so, are there obvious things to check, or is it teardown/rebuild time?
3. Would it be possible to check for a water leak with the oil drained out, by closing the oil drain plugs and blowing air into the oil dipstick hole to see if it holds pressure? Or should I just put in new oil, run it a while, and see if it's still getting water?"
 
"my 89 OMC Cobra lower ste

"my 89 OMC Cobra lower stern drive."

You need to repost in the OMC section. You are in the Mercruiser segment.
 
Ditto Guy's remark about t

Ditto Guy's remark about the OMC section; but you need to pressure test your drive to find out what is leaking before you start just plugging holes that may actually be drain holes that are there for a reason.

Rod
 
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